Our People Abroad: A Native of Naryn Went to South America and Conquered One of the Seven "Peaks of the World"

Ирэн Орлонская Exclusive
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Aisada Uchugenova, originally from the village of Choloq-Kayin located in the Ak-Talinsky district of the Naryn region, now lives in Germany and recently reached the summit of Aconcagua in South America.

At a height of 6962 meters, Aconcagua is the highest mountain not only in Argentina and South America but also in the western and southern hemispheres, as well as on the entire planet outside of Asia.

This peak is often referred to as the "Colossus of America" and is included in the list of the "Seven Summits," which features the highest mountains on all continents.

Aisada Asanovna was born in 1977 in Choloq-Kayin, which is part of the Ala-Buginsky aiyl aimak. She is currently married and raising a son. Her husband, Karsten König, is a German Doctor of Medical Sciences and a professor.

She holds a PhD in biomedical sciences and works as an academic consultant at Saarland University in Germany, as well as serving as the director of science at a company developing high-tech biomedical equipment.

In an interview with a Turmush correspondent, Aisada shared that she has been living in Germany for about two decades, having moved there for scientific work at the Fraunhofer Institute. In between, she also lived in the USA, working with Professor Robert Hoffman. In Germany, she started a family, defended her doctoral and professorial theses. Her scientific works, dedicated to genetic engineering, biophotonics, and laser technologies, have been published in 85 international journals. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano, running, hiking, and traveling, having visited six continents and 80 countries.

Aisada's interest in mountaineering arose while working in Bishkek with Academician Almaz Aldashev, who studied pulmonary arterial pressure at high altitudes. She joined his team and conducted several studies under the guidance of Professor Turgunbay Kadyraliev. This period marked the beginning of her awareness of the popularity of high-altitude topics and mountaineering. She decided to test how her body reacts to altitude, and on January 15, she began her ascent of Aconcagua, imagining what was happening to her body as she climbed.

Prior to this, Aisada had already ascended to heights of 3600 to 4000 meters on the Ak-Sai and Enilchek glaciers, as well as conquered several other peaks: Adam in Sri Lanka (3000 m), Zugspitze in Germany (3000 m), Grossglockner in Austria (3800 m), the Klein Matterhorn in Switzerland (3883 m), Kazbek in Georgia (5054 m), and Fansipan in Vietnam (3150 m).

Aisada describes her ascents as a meditation, where she enjoys the beauty of nature. However, climbing to heights above 5000 meters is a completely different experience. "Mountains educate us," she says. Heights teach us to be strong both physically and mentally. She noted that only 50% of participants reach the summit of Aconcagua, and their group of eight climbers from different countries also dwindled to four as they ascended.

Aisada's husband, who has experience climbing to heights of up to 8000 meters, was with her on this expedition, but due to breathing difficulties, he had to stop at an altitude of 6200 meters. He supported her, urging her to continue for the sake of Kyrgyzstan, which the other group members also did, facing difficulties at an altitude of 6600 meters.

She mentioned that at altitudes up to 5000 meters, in case of an accident, a helicopter can be called, but above 6000 meters, this is no longer possible. In conditions of thin air, helicopters cannot land. This creates a danger to the lives of climbers. Aisada also noted that many residents of the countries she visited are unaware of Kyrgyzstan, but those who have been there highly appreciate Kyrgyz traditions and hospitality. She confidently states that Kyrgyzstan is a safe country for travel.
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