CHITRAL: Mountaineers and people associated with tourism on Saturday paid tributes to legendary climber Mohammad Ali Sadpara, who along with two foreign mountaineers died while trying to scale K2 in winter.

They were speaking at a condolence reference organised by Chitral Wonders and Hindukush Explorers.

The speakers, including Shahzada Sirajul Mulk, Farooq Iqbal, Sahib Irfan, Syed Hareer Shah and others, said Ali Sadpara was a beacon for the young people who had developed the craze to adopt the profession of climbing mountains despite its many perils.

They said to commemorate the last year’s visit of the departed climber to the district, an expedition of youth climbers would be taken to the base camp of Terich Mir, the highest peak of Hindukush range, in July next after imparting them the necessary training.

They said despite having more than 200 peaks of the altitude greater than 6,000 meters, the local people had yet to get the skills required for mountaineering. They said this pained Sadpara who came to Chitral last year along with a team and planned a flurry of activities to train the local youth.

They said Sadpara’s mission of training youth in mountaineering would be carried forward.

Farooq Iqbal, chief executive officer of Chitral Wonders, recounted the details of the expedition led by Sadpara to Terich Mir during which he explored Zani Pass which had never been visited by any mountaineer in the past.

He said Sadpara was highly enthusiastic about promotion of mountaineering and tourism in Chtiral.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2021