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She was born in Guatemala City on June 19, 1982. When she was just a child, Andrea traveled through the Guatemalan countryside with her family. These outings roused her interest to see more of the world. Thanks to a scholarship, Andrea was able to study Economy and Tourism in the Universtà degli Studi di Gènova, in Italy. Upon graduation, she started her professional life by working for a major hotel chain. She saved money, and after 18 months of work, she was able to backpack through Asia. This journey took her to Everest Base Camp for the first time. She also began to work as a tour guide for a Brazilian adventure tourism operator and continued to travel around the world.
The Beginning of a passion
In November of 2007, Andrea climbed her first snowy peak mountain: the Island Peak (6200 meters). This experience inspired and encouraged her to reach the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest. This is not an easy task, and only one in every three people that attempt the climb are able to summit. However, this did not deter Andrea. She planned for an intensive two-and-a-half year-long training schedule, which wound up taking her to 13 different snowy peak mountains.
A record for Central America
On May 23, 2010, Andrea became the first woman in Central America and the Caribbean to have reached the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest (8,805 meters). This makes her part of an exclusive group of climbers, as only 4000 men and 273 women have been able to summit Mount Everest.
Latin-American Record
On September 22, 2012, Andrea completed the Adventurer’s Grand Slam, which challenges climbers to summit the tallest peak in every continent and to ski to the geographical North and South Poles. Upon doing this, she became the first Latin American to have ever completed the challenge.
Andrea Cardona is the founder and CEO of The Altitude Company, which focuses on corporate health and wellness. She is the author of ‘Sin Límites, Everest (Limitless, Everest) and is an international speaker.
She is a nominee for the Heroes in Education prize for Funsepa Guatemala and volunteers with La Alianza, a home for sexually abused teenagers, where she helps the girls and young women to have experiences in the volcanoes that ignited her own love for nature and high altitudes.
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