Mountain climber Malli Mastan Babu, who hails from an agricultural family in Nellore district of AP, has achieved the distinction of being the only Indian to have scaled the tallest peaks of the Andes in South America.

According to R Viswanathan, India's ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Mastan Babu has achieved the feat recently after spending nine months in South America in his four trips since 2005.

The 37-year old Telugu mountain climber scaled the heights of the Huascaran (6,768 meters) in Peru, Sajama (6,542 meters) in Bolivia, Chimborazo (6,310 meters) in Ecuador and Ojos Del Salado (6,800 meters) in Chile.

Babu, who holds Guinness record for having climbed the seven summits of the world in just 172 days in 2006 including the toughest Vinson Massif peak (4,887 meters) in Antarctica, has also been credited with scaling the Aconcagua in the Argentine side three times. At 6,962 meters, it is the tallest peak outside the Himalayas.

Mr Babu, who studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata and M.Tech in Electronics from IIT Kharagpur, is presently on a mission in Latin America to reach the mountain heights of all the 12 countries of South America, including Paraguay and Uruguay.

Mr Babu had earlier given guest lectures on leadership at companies like GE, Intel, John Deere, and in management schools in the US, UAE, Kenya and India.

Andhrawishesh.com wishes Mastan Babu more successes in his climbing endeavors. Jai ho the Telugu spirit! (J)