Arpita Patra summits world’s highest volcanic peak Ojos Del Salado

Key facts

• Arpita Patra, a faculty member of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, became the first Bengali woman to scale Ojos Del Salado.
• Ojos Del Salado is the highest volcanic peak in the world, standing at an altitude of 22,615 feet on the Chile-Argentina border.
• The climber reached the summit on 7 March 2026, after starting the final ascent from the base camp in the Atacama Desert.
• As part of the acclimatisation process, she completed climbs of Laguna Verde (over 14,000 feet) and Nevado San Francisco (over 19,700 feet).
• Patra has previously scaled four other volcanic peaks prior to this successful expedition.
• The final stretch of the climb involved a steep 50-metre slope at an altitude of nearly 7,000 metres amid cold and strong winds.