ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

His words clearly indicate the danger, this High altitude sport brings along with itself.

Over the years, hundreds of people have lost their lives to this obsession and have engraved their names in history. Those who have survived? Stand firm as the brave knights, conquering a kingdom. Where people such as Hermann Bhul, Reinhold Messener and etc have become household names, to my dismay, we have failed to recognize our heroes and give them the recognition they deserve.

Mr. Nazir Sabir, born in a small town of Gojal, Near Hunza, entitles the honour of being the 1st Pakistani to summit Mount Everest (8848m). Apart from that he also bags the honour of being the 2nd Pakistani on K2(8611m). It was on August 7,1981 that he stood on the summit peak of K2 as the second Pakistani. He had ascended along with a Japanese expedition and after days of struggle and bad weather, finally he touched the skies. The documentary “ 50 days struggle” over this expedition quickly gained hype in Japan, making Nazir Sabir a household hero there. In 1982 along with Reinhold Messener, Nazir Sabir successfully ascended Gasherbrum 2(8035m) and Broad Peak (8047m). It was the fastest ascend of that time, setting up a world record. Nazir Sabir made 3 attempts on Nanga Parbat (8126m), but maybe the mountain didn’t want him on its summit and all three of them failed. And it was during the second attempt that there team struck an avalanche and suffered heavy casualties  with Nazir Sabir suffering serious injuries. Then in the year 2000, Nazir sabir finally reached his destiny and sat on the roof of the world, the Mount Everest, as the first Pakistani on its summit. Over the years he has been awarded with the Sitar e Imtiaz and Presidents Award of Pride of Honour. He has also been awarded much International recognitions and has represented Pakistan on various International forums. Apart from the 4/5 Eight thousand meter peaks in Pakistan; he has also made successful expeditions to the Canadian rockies and Alps. Currently he runs his own Adventure/tourism Company, The Nazir Sabir Expeditions.

Recently a new but less popular name has emerged in the world of mountaineering, Hasan Sadpara. Hasan belongs to the small village of Sadpara near Skardu. He started of his career as a high altitude porter, carrying luggage and other stuff for foreign expeditions. But his dreams were far higher than this and his destiny to reach the skies. With the scanty resources he had, Hasan successfully conquered all 5/5 8000m plus peaks ( K2, Gasherbrum 1, Gasherbrum 2 and Broad Peak), including Nanga Parbat, without supplemental oxygen. For those of you unaware of this sport; at a height above 7000m, 80% of your entire energy is utilized just to breath. That means for every 10 seconds you ascend, you need a break of at least 10 minutes. Hasan’s long-lived dream finally came true when he was sponsored by the Government of Pakistan for an expedition to Mount Everest. So on 11 May 2011, Hasan finally resolved to summit this peak after several days of camping at the second advance camp, as he knew, he wouldn’t get another chance and his poverty wouldn’t allow him to visit again. Irrespective of the bad weather conditions, Hasan ascended with all his will and finally at the brink of dawn, stood at the summit of the roof of the world.

Today Hasan sits in the Skardu bazaar in his shop of second hand mountaineering gear. Poverty is still his fate, but he dreams of ascending all Fourteen 8000m peaks of the world and bag the title of being the first Pakistani to do so. He also wishes to open his own mountaineering school in Skardu, where he can pass his knowledge to generations that come.