ARGENTINA, Santiago Luque Columbres/Juan Barbosa. It was an indescribable experience when, on January 12th, the MTA arrived at the top of "Stone Guard of the Americas" in the hands of some young men. From that moment, this will be an unforgettable memory for these "Adventurers of Mary", because on that day they reached the summit of the Colossus of America, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, at the height of 6,952 meters.

With the motto, "per Aspera ad Astra", a group of fourteen young men (the oldest one of the group was the youngest in spirit) set out to fulfill a dream they have had for four years. This dream had been fostered through different camps, climbing expeditions and shared experiences and prepared us "to steal the top of the Cerro", relates Santiago Luque Columbres, a 25 year-old Industrial Engineer, member of the Cordoba Boys’ Youth and an active Schoenstatt Pilgrim MTA missionary.

The motto gave us the impetus to reflect on "the highest objectives" while citing the same words of Santi, "The more things cost us, the bigger the challenge and for that reason we enjoy them more". What exactly was their challenge? It was to exhibit a poster for the world to read, "YES to life from the moment of conception. NO to abortion. NO to the morning after pill" on the peak of Centinela de Piedra, sometimes called Aconcagua.

Who better to give testimony to this than Carlos Luque Columbres, the father of a family of 12 children, who with his five sons (among them Santi) joined this challenge by placing himself in the lead postotion.

Undoubtedly, his spouse Mercedes and his 7 daughters (one of them a religious) deserve a special paragraph because they, along with the sons-in-law, daughters-in –law and 12 grandchildren supported this crazy "act of love" since the beginning.

Each privation was a step closer to the summit

Santi tells us that although they are in good physical condition, a product of a healthy life style that includes regular sports participation, the main thing was the spiritual preparation, before and during the ACONCAGUA Expedition 2006.

During all of last year they contributed to the Capital of Grace in the Shrine of Life and Hope (Cerro de las Rosas, Cordoba) with one fundamental proposal, "Each individuals denial of comfort is one more step that we are giving to scale ACONCAGUA".

During the Expedition, all of the "Andinistas de Maria" (Mary’s Mountain Climbers) prayed the Rosary each night. This gave them the strength to face each day "as if it were last play of the game, as if it was the finish line".

Reaching the summit

They began the "attack", the final ascent, at 3:00 a.m. and from there, it took them 10 hours to reach the place that they had dreamed about for so many nights. They had already tried it in 2004, but the mountain resisted.

They withstood the polar wind, dehydration, the weariness of the 6,000 meters that they had left behind; in short, these very hard obstacles were considered "nothing more than what life places before you and which you have to overcome. This experience was a clear reflection of what it means to have a high ideal, in which you are also accompanied by fears and insecurities that one needs to overcome in the company of God, with the teaching of the Blessed Mother, to whom I expressed my deepest gratitude when I touched the Cross of the Summit. At that place we unfurled our poster, and the image of the GREAT MISSIONARY, who accompanied us, on that January 12^th to the highest point of America!"

Never give up

That is how Santi summarizes what they retain from this adventure: "Our summit is to get to heaven, and in order to do this we must travel the road of life, overcome different stages; at times the road is easy, at other times the road is steeper.

When we are tired or down trodden, we seek the support of our loved ones.

When our companion is going through these times we are the ones who should give him an uplifting word, a smile an embrace of support and to again look together at the summit in the distance and to become enthusiastic again…the most important thing is to never give up, to continue going forward in spite of it all because the satisfaction of arriving will justify all the suffering. In this way, from my point of view, the accomplishment that is attained will be complete."

Translaton: Celina M Garza, Harlingen/TX, USA - Christi Jentz, Milwaukee, USA