ISLAMABAD: To say that Annapurna is the most dangerous of all peaks with the highest death ratio is an understatement, said Sirbaz Khan, who along with Abdul Karim Joshi became the first Pakistanis to conquer the treacherous Annapurna peak in Nepal.

“There are dangers of avalanches and rockfalls from the start and particularly between camps II and III.

“It is not surprising that ropes you fix one day are gone the next day. We didn’t realise what danger really felt like until we were engulfed in a massive avalanche between the advanced base camp and camp I. From then on, our gazes would be focused upwards looking out of rockfalls,” Khan told Dawn on the phone.

Khan has now other plans. “I’m flying out on May 2 to attempt the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest,” he said.

Pakistani mountaineer recently climbed over 8,000m Annapurna peak in Nepal

While the 34-year-old has already scaled Nanga Parbat in 2017, K2 in 2018 and Broad Peak in 2019, followed by Lhotse and Manaslu, bagging the Annapurna was his sixth 8,000er in just four years that he started climbing. For his 36-year-old climbing partner, Annapurna was the first peak over 8,000 metres.

Joshi attempted K2 in 2015, Gasherbrum II in 2016 and Broad Peak in 2018, but bad weather forced him to abandon the ascents.

The duo spent 25 days on the 8,091 metres Annapurna. According to the climbers, spring is the time to climb Annapurna.

They were the first to establish camps I and II and then camp IV, said Khan. The pair had aimed at summating Annapurna without supplemental oxygen.

“But we had to spend three nights in camp IV and that was very exhausting. On the last push, it also snowed for straight five hours to a point where we almost thought it was over,” said Khan who was leading the four-member team of climbers from Pakistan.

While Nepali Sherpas fixed ropes on the go, the duo headed out for the final push at 11:30pm on April 15.

“From camp IV at 7,000 metres, it took us 14 hours to reach the top. Once at the top it was exhilarating and emotional.

“It was my first ever summit of an 8,000er,” Joshi told Dawn.

Joshi spends his summers exploring 6,000 and 7,000 metres unclimbed peaks and discovering new passes in the mountains with trekkers.

He plans to climb Passu Peaks and then the 7,000 metres-plus Spantik peak in July.Khan said the conquest of Annapurna was dedicated to their late climbing partner Mohammad Ali Sadpara, who died on K2 during a winter expedition.

“My first 8,000er was the Nanga Parbat with Ali Sadpara in autumn. And then we summated K2 in 2018 together. In 2019, we summated Lhotse in Nepal. And we were the first Pakistanis to climb Manaslu,” Khan said.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2021