Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara among 4 climbers who create a history to make first-ever winter ascent of killer mountain ‘’Nanga Parbat’’
By.Aasghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara Alex Txikon (Spain), and Simone Moro (Italy) have reached the top of Nanga Parbat,” while the lady climber Miss Tamara Lunger of Spain, from few meters stopped just short of the summit for the reasons of pain in lower body. It was the first time in the history that the summit has been reached during winter months. The lady climber Miss. Tamara Lunger of Spain had been forced to halt the climb some meters beneath the summit. Nanga Parbat earned its grisly nickname of “Killer Mountain” after more than 30 climbers died trying to conquer it before the first successful summit in 1953.Its fearsome Rupal Face, rising more than 4,000 meters from base to top, presents one of the most difficult — and tantalizing — challenges in climbing. The climbers will spend Friday night 26th February 2016 at Camp 4 at 7,200 meters, and return to base camp on next day. Northern Pakistan is a magnet for mountaineers and is home to some of the tallest mountains in the world, including K2 — at 8,611 meters, the world’s second highest peak, but often deemed a more challenging climb than the highest, Mount Everest. Nestled between the western end of the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Karakoram Range, Gilgit-Baltistan houses 18 of the world’s 50 highest peaks. It is also home to three of the world’s seven longest glaciers outside the Polar Regions. Hundreds of its mountains have never been climbed. No Doubt the history has been created, as mountaineers from Pakistan, Spain and Italy have managed to scale the feared Nanga Parbat for the first time in the winter season. Muhammad Ali Sadpara has become the first Pakistani to scale Nanga Parbat in winters. He has done this with Alex Txikon (Spain) Miss Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro (Italy). The senior member of the team Simone Moro (Italy) said Simone Moro of Italy during a press conference and experience sharing programmed organized by the Alpine Club of Pakistan at media center Pakistan sports complex Islamabad. The PTDC Managing Director Kabir Ahmed, president alpine club of Pakistan Col Manzoor Hussian, Secretary Karrar Haidri was also present at this ocean. The senior member of the team Simone Moro (Italy) said Simone Moro of Italy disclosed that the fourth climber, Miss Tamara Lunger of Spain, stopped just short of the summit for the reasons of pain in lower body .which were not immediately known. He said that at 8,126 meters (26,660 feet) Nanga Parbat is the world’s ninth highest mountain. It earned its grisly nickname of ‘Killer Mountain’ after more than 30 climbers died trying to conquer it before the first successful summit in 1953 in addition to claiming a number of mountaineers since. ‘It is not a killer mountain’’ Nanga Parbat means a naked Mountain on the planet, he, explained. ‘’Along with K-2, Nanga Parbat was among the last of the 14 eight-thou sanders which had not been climbed in winter ‘disclosed Simone Moro, the senior member of the team .After recalling his memories he Sharing his experience stated that the four climbers camped on the mountain’s Rupal face from at least mid-December, braving extreme weather including a number of snow storms, avalanches, high winds and freezing temperatures. The Rupal Face, rising more than 4,000m from base to top, presents one of the most difficult – and tantalizing – challenges in climbing. In the weeks leading up to the summit, they had tried multiple times but the weather, including heavy snow and high winds had pushed them back. But they held on hoping another window would present itself soon. Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who has climbed Nanga Parbat twice in summer, was leading the Spanish climber and Italian Daniele Nardi over the Kinghoffer route but suffered from altitude sickness and took a wrong turn which took them to a dead end and left the climbers with no other choice but to return just a few hundred meters from the summit. But history fortunately did not repeat itself on Friday as Sadpara, Txikon and Moro managed to reach the summit at a little after half past two in the afternoon. Mean while the PTDC Managing Director Kabir Ahmed announced that the PTDC motel will be established a motel with the name of Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara at SADPARA. The climbers Alex Txikon (Spain) Miss Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro (Italy) were honored Pakistani green Sash (Chadar) by Asghar Ali Mubarak the senior sports journalist and Chairman Federal Sports Journalists Association Pakistan. Earlier the media coated the message of victorious team,
“We, Simone and Tamara’s team, want to say that we are HAPPY & PROUD of the all 4 athletes!!! And we look for a direct contact to them when they will be at C4,” a statement on Moro’s Face book page followed.
By Friday evening, Txikon wrote on his Twitter page that all four climbers had managed to return to camp IV, and after resting will continue their descent on Saturday.
In 2013 gunmen shot dead nine foreign climbers and their Pakistani guide at the Nanga Parbat base camp – one American with dual Chinese citizenship, two other Chinese, three Ukrainians, two Slovakians, one Lithuanian and one Nepalese. A Pakistani guide was also killed. However, the attack had failed to dissuade climbers who have returned to attempt the summit for each of the successive seasons.
