A Penrhyncoch adventurer has described getting the shock of his life when a giant condor with a wingspan of around eight feet landed next to him during his ascent of a 22,800ft peak in the Andes.

Ioan Isaac-Richards was attempting to climb Aconcagua – the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas - when the giant vulture, one of the largest flying birds in the world, alighted mere feet away from the startled Ceredigion hiker.

Describing his unexpected ‘condor moment’, Ioan, who works on preserving and providing access to Wales’ digital content at the National Library of Wales, said: “It landed five metres from the tent – I wasn’t too sure that having such a scavenger so close was a good sign!”

The 35-year-old, whose past high altitude hikes have taken to Everest Basecamp and Huayhuash in Peru, need not have feared, however.

He pressed on to conquer a mountain which has the highest death rate of any mountain in South America.

Yet Ioan has not lost his taste for high altitude challenges and is now targeting a Himalayan peak towering over 8,000m has his potential next goal.

Reliving his Aconcagua experience, he said: “It is the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas, or some would describe it as the highest mountain in the Southern and Western hemispheres.

“The climb duration was 14 days. Summit day was 12 hours climbing from camp 3 (6,000 metres) to the summit and back.

“The climb was not overly technical, but crampons were required along with double skin boots and other equipment to ensure frostbite was not an issue.

“We were warned that temperatures can reach -20°C to -30°C, but I did not measure the temperature while I was there.

“The best way I can describe how difficult summit day was that we were down to one step every two breaths nearer the top."

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now