ISLAMABAD: Pakistani mountain climber Rehmatullah Quraishi has returned after successfully scaling Mount Daguniag in China.

Hailing from Chilas in Gilgit-Baltistan, Quraishi was the only Pakistani in a group of three Chinese, four Taiwanese, four Mongols and four Korean climbers.

The expedition was launched on June 9 and continued till June 15 aimed at encouraging mountaineering and drawing attention to smaller peaks between 5,000 metres and 6,000 metres.

Quraishi is one of the members of the Union of Asian Alpine Association, and reached the top of the 5,025-metre-high peak at 9:30am on June 12. But other summit attempts on 8,000 plus peaks in Pakistan and Nepal got more attention and became news.

“The climb was not as difficult compared to other more technical mountains.

The slopes are 45 to 50 degrees steep and the group made up of a few professional climbers and armatures did not feel the need for using ropes and other harnesses to climb to the top.

The concept is to encourage adventure sports and climbing especially in Pakistan, which offers all kinds of terrains and climbing opportunities for trekkers and climbers alike,” said Quraishi, who works as a health and safety official in an oil and gas company.

He said a knee-deep fresh snow was the only hurdle slowing the progress of the group of climbers.

In 2013, Quraishi was part of a similar expedition made up of Pakistani and Chinese climbers and scaled the 7,546-metre-high Muztagh Ata peak, also in China.

In 2001, he climbed the summit of Broad Peak (8,047 metres) in Pakistan, and successfully reached the top of the 7,027-metre-high Spantik Peak.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2016