A 51-year-old lung transplant recipient — transplanted in 2002 for cystic fibrosis — successfully reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (6,961 m) in January 2026, without supplemental oxygen. This is the highest altitude ever recorded for a lung transplant recipient.
The achievement was part of an international medical expedition organised by the Vienna lung transplant team, involving nine transplant patients from Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Denmark and the USA. Of the nine participants, only one reached the summit, with the others descending at various stages due to altitude-related symptoms and safety precautions.
Key to the success was careful preparation: the summit recipient completed over 300 hours of home-based hypoxic conditioning before departure, had good baseline lung function, and benefited from a slow, structured 19-day ascent with close medical supervision. No serious altitude-related complications occurred.
The authors caution that this is an exceptional case in a highly selected individual under rigorous medical oversight, and should not be seen as a general recommendation for transplant patients. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that carefully chosen lung transplant recipients can physiologically adapt to high altitude when preparation and supervision are thorough.
See also our article on the previous expedition to Kilimanjaro at this link
Read more at this link on Transplant International
Photo credit: LinkedIn post by Thierry Berney