Skiing from a 6000 meters high peak

I, Niamat Karim (27) and my younger brother Mansoor Karim (15) belong to Shimshal Gojal  Hunza , one of the beautiful  Valleys  of Gilgit-Baltistan. I am a mountaineer by profession and have been associated with it for the last 13 years. Encountering adventures is my passion and I want to explore new avenues in mountaineering. Slope skiing is one of the most fascinating sports around the world. I always loved it and wished to experience that magnificent journey on ice. This desire led me to my destination one day and i feel proud of it. This is all due to the grace of God, prayers of my family and encouragement of my friends.

Nature has bestowed Pakistan with highest peaks and mountains which remain covered with snow throughout the year. Skiing in Pakistan is an old sport but Alpine skiing (mountain skiing) is a new chapter introduced to the history of sports of Pakistan. No one in Pakistan has undertaken this endeavour before and we are the first to introduce it. I and my younger brother Mr. Mansoor Karim availed the opportunity and became the fortunate ones. It is not easy to ski from 6000 meters height. It requires sophisticated equipments and training. It is very risky but we did not lose courage and finally completed our target and reached our goal. Such expeditions require pleasant weather and good health. When both do not cooperate, an expedition can get failed. Thank God our expedition was perfect. This was the first ever Pakistani Alpine skiing expedition and it was a wonderful experience for both of us.

We started the 07 days expedition on July 10^th, 2013 and attempted for the first peak QuzSar which is 6000 meters high and took three hours to the summit. We stayed on the top for an hour due to the worsening conditions of the weather. It was snowing and we waited for the weather to clear up and then start our skiing from top to the advance base camp. It took 15 minutes to proceed. On the same day we attempted for Qol Peak 6000 meters high. On 12^th of July we attempted for Mingling Sar which is 6050 meters high. It took us 6 hours to reach the summit. We stayed there for half an hour and then we further commenced our skiing and reached the advance base camp in seventeen minutes. After two days rest we again started our expedition on 15^th July. This time it was an unclimbed peak which is 6000 meters high. We reached the summit in 3 hours and stayed there for 15 minutes and descended in 10 minutes time to the advance base camp. Before i had planned to climb three peaks but during the expedition we found that the advance base camps of Qol Peak and QuzSar are near each other and it was easy for us to ascend that also.

Mansoor who is just 15 years old has become the youngest Pakistani ever to successfully attempt Alpine skiing. He started his career as a professional skier in 2008 and has attended various trainings in Shimshal.

We want to promote skiing especially Alpine skiing (Mountain Ski) as a sport in Pakistan and expect the government’s support in this regard. Pakistan can become the hot spot for Alpine Skiing and side country ski sports and this will promote tourism and mountain adventure sports. We specially recommend the youth of Pakistan to actively participate in alpine sking and make it more popular and adventurous.