Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara successfully climbs Mt Annapurna without supplemental oxygen

This picture, posted on April 11, 2023, features Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara during his expedition at Mount Annapurna in Nepal. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/sajid_sadpara)
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Updated 15 April 2023
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Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara successfully climbs Mt Annapurna without supplemental oxygen

  • The 8,091-meter-high Mount Annapurna in Nepal is a tough climb and has claimed the lives of more than 60 climbers
  • Sadpara, the son of Muhammad Ali Sadpara, has already summited K2, Gasherbrum-I, Gasherbrum-II and Nepal’s Manaslu

KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara has successfully summited Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak, without supplementary oxygen, officials of Pakistani mountaineering clubs said on Saturday.

At a height of 8,091 meters above the sea level, Mount Annapurna in Nepal is widely considered to be a tough climb and has claimed the lives of more than 60 climbers striving to make an ascent.

Sadpara, the son of Pakistan’s late iconic high-altitude mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, has already summited K2 (8,611 meters) twice as well as Nepal’s Manaslu (8,163 meters). The mountaineer has also successfully climbed Gasherbrum-I (8,080 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035 meters) without supplementary oxygen.

Karrar Haidri, general-secretary for the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said congratulated Sadpara and the Seven Summit Treks team for successfully reaching the Annapurna summit.

“This is a happy [moment] that Sajid Ali Sadpara has summited one of the most dangerous peaks of the world, the tenth highest [mountain of the world],” Haidri told Arab News.

“This was a hard movement because he was leading and summited the peak in spite of the harsh weather. Sajid is a young mountaineer and his dream is to scale all 14 peaks of the world, which is an incomplete dream of his father.”

Nepalese mountaineer Chhang Dawa Sherpa, who is also the expedition director for the Seven Summit Trek, also congratulated Sadpara on the successful ascent.

“Wake up Pakistan!!! Sajid Ali Sadpara, a son of legend Ali Sadpara, [successfully] reached the top of Mt. Annapurna this afternoon, unsupported and without using supplementary O2, as a part of @sst8848 Annapurna Exped,” he wrote on Twitter.

 

 

In February 2021, Sadpara’s father Muhammad Ali, Iceland’s John Snorri, and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr went missing while attempting to scale the world’s most dangerous peak in winter. They were last sighted at around 10am on February 5, 2021 at what is considered the most difficult part of the climb: the Bottleneck, a steep and narrow gully just 300 meters shy of the 8,611-meter-high K2.

Ali and his expedition members were making their second attempt at climbing K2 during the winter. It is believed the group had reached the summit but encountered a problem on the way down.

In January 2021, a team of 10 Nepali climbers had made history by becoming the first to ever scale K2 in winter.


Pakistan deputy PM directs authorities to monitor food prices ahead of Ramadan 

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Pakistan deputy PM directs authorities to monitor food prices ahead of Ramadan 

  • Prices of essential food items surge during holy month of Ramadan due to hoarding, profiteering by traders
  • Deputy PM Ishaq Dar directs authorities to prevent artificial price hikes, exploitation of consumers in Ramadan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday directed authorities to monitor prices of essential food items ahead of Ramadan to prevent artificial price hikes and consumers from getting exploited, his office said. 

Pakistani increasingly shop for essential food items during the holy month of Ramadan, as millions across the country fast from dawn till sunset. Prices of essential food items surge during the holy month every year as traders often indulge in hoarding and profiteering. 

Dar chaired a meeting to review the availability and prices of essential commodities across the country on Tuesday, his office said. 

“DPM/FM [foreign minister] directed federal & provincial authorities to continue close monitoring, particularly in view of the approaching month of Ramazan, to prevent any artificial price hike or exploitation of consumers by unscrupulous elements,” Dar’s office said in a statement.

A central moon sighting committee in Pakistan, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, determines when Ramadan begins. The Islamic month is expected to start this year after mid-February, around Feb. 17 or Feb. 18.

Pakistan’s government also announces subsidies for the masses during the holy month to lower the prices of essential food items. 

In 2024, the Shehbaz Sharif-led government announced a Ramadan package comprising a subsidy of $26.8 million (Rs7.5 billion) to lower the prices of essential items for over 30,96,00,000 families.