Dog In Goggles Summits Aconcagua...

A golden retriever has successfully summited Aconcagua, at just under 7,000 metres, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere.

Rubia, a two-year search and rescue dog, was equipped with boots, goggles, and a snowsuit and accompanied by two Spanish climbers. But before you start training your own mutt for a trip to the Andes, Rubia was only allowed on the mountain because she was taking part in a study of how rescue dogs peform at very high altitudes.

She was roped to her - human - climbing partners at all times, presumably to prevent her from chasing llamas...

And the results? "The dog would react and recover better than we would," one of Rubia's fellow climbers told the BBC.

For more doggy details, see this story on the excellent Outside magazine site.