Sajid Sadpara climbs Mt Annapurna without oxygen

Sajid Ali Sadpara, the son of the late Pakistani mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, has added another feather to his cap by climbing the world’s tenth highest peak, Annapurna, without supplemental oxygen.

The feat was confirmed on April 15, 2023.

This type of ascent, where climbers are not supported by high-altitude porters from base camp to the summit, is called Alpine style. During this summit, mountaineers manage everything — carrying food, tent, ropes and setting routes — themselves.

Sadpara had reached Nepal last month, with the mission to summit three of the world’s highest mountains Alpine style and without supplemental oxygen.

Before his departure, Sadpara told Dawn he was going to climb Kangchenjunga (8,586m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m) and Makalu (8,481m) peaks.

The climber said the mission would take three months to complete.

In April 2021, climbers Sirbaz Khan and Muhammad Abdul Joshi had become the first Pakistanis to summit Annapurna, but with supplemental oxygen and not in Alpine style.

‘Fulfilling father’s dream’
He has already summited K2 (8,611m), Gasherbrum-I (8,080m) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035m), in Pakistan and Manaslu (8,163m) in Nepal without supplemental oxygen.

He now aims to climb all of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen.

In February 2021, his father, Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr had gone missing while attempting to summit the K2 during the winter season.

Their bodies were found in July, over five months after they went missing.

Sadpara described the search for the bodies of his father and other missing climbers as “the most challenging and extraordinary mission” of his life.

“First, the summit of K2 itself was a dangerous adventure and the burial of my father above eight thousand metres was heartbreaking,” he said.

“It was impossible to take the bodies back to base camp so we decided to bury them on the mountain.”

Sadpara said the completion of his mission to summit all 14 peaks above eight-thousand metres altitude without supplementary oxygen would be the fulfilment of “his father’s dream”.

“For him, climbing was something he was born to take up,” he added.

Sadpara has made a name for himself in the Alpine community with his summits of the most daunting peaks at a young age. He climbed K2 — the world’s second-highest mountain — twice, one time without supplemental oxygen. In 2022, he summited the Manaslu peak without supplemental oxygen, becoming the first Pakistani to achieve the feat.

He set records when he summited both Gasherbrum-I and Gasherbrum-II peaks in three days and 18 hours without supplementary oxygen.