Mercedes-Benz Unimog Reaches New Heights, Sets Altitude Record By Driving 21,961 Feet Up Volcano

A pair of Mercedes-Benz Unimogs have reached new heights in Chile with one scaling a volcano and topping out at 6,694 meters (21,961 feet) to set a new high-altitude world record for a wheeled vehicle.

A team of ten was tasked with installing four emergency radio units on the Ojos de Salado volcano in Chile. These emergency radios will connect to three other base camps on the volcano and were placed at 6,100 meters (20,013 feet). To complete the task, Mercedes-Benz supplied two fully-equipped Unimogs to the team headed up by Matthias Jeschke who owns a company dubbed Extrem Events. When the final radio was installed, the team decided to take one of the Unimogs further up the volcano in pursuit of the record.

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Ojos de Salado is the tallest active volcano in the world and sits in the Atacama Desert.

Not any old Unimog would do for this type of journey. Consequently, the two Unimogs supplied by Mercedes-Benz were extensively modified to include off-road wheels and tires in addition to a variable center of gravity balancing system co-developed by engineers from the Unimog development team, the Unimog Museum, and a Unimog body maker. The Unimogs also featured massive winches that helped pull the vehicles up to the record height.

Jeschke had previously held the record for trucks reaching an altitude of 6,675 meters (21,899 feet) with a Mercedes Zetros. The previous record for any wheeled vehicle was set in 2007 with a modified 1986 Suzuki Samurai that hit 6,688 meters (21,942 feet) also driving up the Ojos de Salado volcano.