Zee Clicks's video: Tribute to Muhammad Ali Sadpara: Porter family man and tough as nails mountaineer

This Video is a tribute to one of our own Heros who risked their life to keep the flag high of our country. Copying this video will result in a copyright. If you would like to use this in a video anywhere on YouTube, you will have to ask me through E-mail E-mail Address: zeeclicks@gmail.com Facebook Page: /ZeeClicks Instagram Tag: /ZeeClicks Twitter Handle: @ziakhattak More Information Below: “Mountains demand passion. Aap ki dillagi hone chahiyee paharoon kay saath [your heart needs to be in love with the mountains],” a beaming Muhammad Ali Sadpara had said in 2016 when I asked what it takes to become a mountaineer. A “jolly, good fellow”, Sadpara is often described by his peers as a tough as nails climber with a good-humoured nature. The only Pakistani to have climbed eight of the 14 8,000 metre peaks, Sadpara came to prominence in local media when he, along with Spain’s Alex Txikon and Italy’s Simone Moro, made a world record with the first winter summit of Nanga Parbat in 2016. The Spaniard and the Italian said their summit would not have been possible without Sadpara, a rousing endorsement for a man largely hidden from the public eye in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to five 8,000m peaks including K2, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I and II. The remaining are in Nepal and China. Born on February 2, 1976, the naturally talented and humble climber hails from a village called Sadpara, near Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. ‘Sadpara' or 'Satpara’ is famous for its porters who have helped countless summit seekers achieve their dreams as they carry backbreaking loads on Baltoro glacier — the gateway to the mighty K2 and other peaks. Over the years, the country has seen few mountaineers rise up. Nazir Sabir, the first Pakistani to climb Everest; Ashraf Aman, the first Pakistani to climb K2 along with the now deceased Nisar Hussain Sadpara and Hasan Sadpara; and Samina Baig, the first Pakistani woman on Everest are just a few more names. In this backdrop, Muhammad Ali’s Sadpara’s rise has been, in his own words, “due to hard work and sheer luck”. Staring out as a porter, he found his first proper climbing gig in 2004 when he accompanied an expedition to K2. “One of my very first jobs was to deliver supplies to Pakistan Army posts leading to Siachen way back in the mid-1990s,” he said in an interview published in Dawn. According to his profile in Alpinist magazine, when a Pakistani army truck pulled into Sadpara to recruit porters, Ali couldn't resist the opportunity. At the time, Pakistan and India were locked in a longstanding conflict over the Siachen Glacier, a strategic corridor to China. Ali was headed into the world's highest battleground. At night, he scaled walls of ice, ferrying supplies to soldiers in remote mountain passes, praying darkness would shelter him from shell-fire that seemed, he recalls, 'as relentless as firecrackers at a wedding'. "'After the Siachen, I wasn't afraid anymore,' Ali remembers. 'In climbing, there are two outcomes—life or death—and you must find the courage to accept either possibility.'" Not listening to his family’s advice to join the police force or the army — which offered good pay and free housing or a plot — he stuck with his heart’s calling. “I used to tell my wife and family I don’t want to work, it’s climbing that I want to do.” No looking back When work was short, Sadpara would go back to farming. In 2006, he climbed Gasherbrum II, his first 8,000m peak, without proper climbing gear. “I didn’t have the right boots, didn’t have a down jacket, let alone a down suit to protect me from the harsh cold. I had some second-hand climbing gear which I bought from the market in Skardu and repaired. But I still managed to climb and come back safely." And since then there was no looking back. He went on to climb Spantik Peak (Pakistan) in 2006, Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) in 2008, Muztagh Ata (China) in 2008, Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) in 2009, Gasherbrum I (Pakistan) in 2010, Nanga Parbat First Winter Ascent (Pakistan) in 2016, Broad Peak (Pakistan) in 2017, Nanga Parbat First Autumn Ascent (Pakistan) in 2017, Pumori Peak First Winter Ascent (Nepal) in 2017, K2 (Pakistan) in 2018, Lhotse (Nepal) in 2019, Makalu (Nepal) in 2019 and Manaslu (Nepal) in 2019. source: Dawn News web