Seventy years after the first man climbed the world's highest volcano, Ojos
del Salado in Chile, two JeepR Wrangler Unlimited vehicles set a new world
record by climbing 6,646 meters (21,804 feet) to the volcano's rim. The
achievement, certified by Guinness World RecordsT, is not one that is likely
to easily be beaten.
It is the second highest mountain in the
Western Hemisphere (6,892 meters / 22,597 feet), and now dubbed the "highest
parking lot in the world". Over five exhausting days in March, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited vehicles carried a team from Extrem Events (Germany), led by Mattias Jeschke, from the base of the inhospitable volcano in the Chilean Andes to the highest point that a four-wheeled vehicle has travelled.
"This was exactly the challenge to separate the new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
from all other 4x4 vehicles. A climb like this in not just off-road, but
extreme conditions, is a testament to the performance of the vehicle's
powertrain, suspension and overall quality. We are very proud that Wrangler
Unlimited was the first vehicle to be able to complete such a rigorous
challenge, and believe that it really does set the vehicle apart from its
competition," said George Murphy, Chrysler Group Senior Vice President of
Global Marketing.
During the trip, the team endured hurricane-strength winds, temperatures
that reached minus 30 degrees Centigrade (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) and
the thin air of such high altitudes, as it manoeuvred over malicious
glaciers, fissured rock cliffs and volcanic sand. The last stretch of the
climb was the most grueling. Both Wrangler Unlimited vehicles had to cross a
glacier, parts of which were so smooth that any travel by foot required
spiked shoes. At the far end was the glacier field, a fissured ice area
strewn with razor sharp snow penitents. It was here that the vehicle's 3.8L
V-6 engine and Goodyear's MT/R tires proved their true capability, and made
the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited the first vehicle to ever cross the Ojos del
Salado glacier.
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