Shehroze Kashif sums Everest, at 8,849 meters as the highest peak, in May (AFP)
Lahore:
Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif has faced many dangers climbing the highest peaks on the planet, but his toughest moment came when he overcame the corpse of his hero on the mountains. the barbaric slope of K2.
Kashif was 19 years and 138 days old when in July he became the youngest person to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, and K2, the second tallest.
It was on the K2 road, just below the infamous stretch of road known as the bottleneck, that he passed the bodies of John Snorri of Iceland, Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile and legendary mountaineer Ali Sadpara of Pakistan.
Kashif told AFP in an interview: “The most emotional moment for me came when passing those climbers, the body of the Pakistani national hero.
Many Pakistanis have an important role as overhead porters, but Sadpara is one of the few to make it into the elite ranks of most Western climbers, who have long dominated the headlines in the field. climbing area.
He was declared missing along with Snorri and Mohr on February 5.
It was more than five months before their bodies were found, on July 26, and Kashif made his summit meeting at dawn the next morning. “I was emotional, thinking they came with the same passion as me,” Kashif said.
“But then I thought, why not fulfill their unfulfilled dream? And I brought their dreams with me.”
This month, the Guinness Book of Records officially declared him the youngest person to climb K2 and the youngest person to climb both of the world’s tallest mountains.
Kashif sums Everest, at 8,849 meters, as Earth’s highest peak, in May.
But the 8,611-meter-tall K2 located in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, or PoK, is the more brutal peak. They are “far from each other”, Kashif said, calling K2 a “beast”.
In winter, winds can blow at more than 200 kilometers per hour and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius.
Kashif is snowblind and frostbitten – and says he’s lucky his big toe hasn’t been amputated. “My energy was so low, it was a tough time… One wrong step and you’re history,” he told AFP from his home in Lahore.
Kashif was first fascinated by mountains at the age of 11 when he discovered the stunning 3,885-meter high Himalayan peak of Makra. “It all started from there,” he said.
Standing on top of the world, he feels “chosen” – a feeling he describes as leaving on top, “so others who come behind you can feel it too.” that”. Now, he said, Everest and K2 are not enough.
He plans to become the youngest person to climb 14 of the world’s highest mountains, the only peaks on the planet above 8,000 meters.
Only about 40 people have historically been believed to have climbed all 14. But claims about the summit are difficult to verify and some experts say there could be even less.
The youngest is Mingma Gyabu “David” Sherpa, of Nepal, who is said by the Guinness Book of World Records to limit them all to 30. Kashif still has 10 more to go.
He is well aware of the dangers. Pakistan mourns Sadpara’s loss but Kashif also lost a friend, Pakistani-Swiss climber Abdul Waraich, on Everest in May.
However, he refuses to contemplate urban life at sea level. “I think mountains are a blessing from God,” he said. “I’m tired of looking at all these concrete buildings, garbage and pollution. I just go where I feel most alive, and I feel the mountains are the best place for me.”
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