Shehroze Kashif, a Pakistani mountaineer, faces excessive climate situations in his try to beat the world’s highest mountains, however the greatest problem for him lies in securing the required funding.
Kashif, on the age of 21, goals to turn out to be the youngest particular person to summit all peaks above 8,000 meters in Pakistan and Asia this yr. Reaching Everest alone value him round $60,000, and summiting all of the 14 “tremendous peaks” can require lots of of hundreds of {dollars}.
This job turns into much more tough in a rustic dealing with an financial disaster. Regardless of these challenges, the younger climber stays decided to realize his record-breaking summit try.
“My father offered my automobile and a bit of land… that is how I did Everest,” Kashif instructed AFP from his house in Lahore, the sub-tropical, low-altitude metropolis the place he was born.
Solely round 50 persons are believed to have climbed all 14 tremendous peaks, the youngest being Mingma Gyabu “David” Sherpa of Nepal, who summited all of them by age 30.
To interrupt this file, Kashif nonetheless has three mountains to beat: China’s Shishapangma, and Cho Oyu and Manaslu in Nepal, having to re-climb the latter after a brand new, greater summit was formally recognised in 2021.
Sizzling on Kashif’s heels is Adriana Brownlee, a 22-year-old British-Spanish mountaineer who can be racing to be the youngest to scale all of the eight-thousanders.
Kashif describes Brownlee — the youngest girl to climb the world’s second-highest peak, K2 — as “sharing the identical stage”.
However in contrast to Brownlee, who has climbed 10 eight-thousanders, Kashif doesn’t have worldwide sponsorship and mentioned he even struggles to get backers in Pakistan.
Brownlee will even have to re-summit Manaslu, in what can be her third try to scale the height since first climbing it.
“I feel she’s ready for me (to do it) really,” Kashif mentioned with fun.
Climbing summits, breaking information
Kashif first grew to become interested by climbing aged 11, when most Pakistani boys his age are build up their cricket abilities.
As a substitute, he climbed the three,885-metre Himalayan peak Makra in northern Pakistan.
He has racked up a string of information since then, with scarcely sufficient house in his Twitter bio to listing all of them.
Kashif is the youngest particular person to climb K2 and the youngest to climb each of the world´s two highest mountains.
He’s additionally the youngest to climb Pakistan’s Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain and his first eight-thousander — a feat that earned him the moniker “Broad Boy”.
“It is not about solely climbing the mountains. It is in regards to the vitality that you simply soak up from the mountains,” Kashif mentioned.
“Each mountain has its personal appeal. It is personal aura of… hazard and journey and happiness.”
Scaling amid hazard
With memorial plaques dotting the hills of the eight-thousanders, Kashif is conscious of his pursuit’s dangers.
“These guys have been right here with the identical potential, identical ardour, identical enthusiasm, identical dedication and identical tolerance (as me),” he mentioned.
Kashif’s most harmful climb was up the world’s ninth-highest peak, Nanga Parbat, in July 2022.
He and his climbing associate Fazal Ali received misplaced in dangerous climate after summiting, and shortly ran out of oxygen, meals and water.
“I began hallucinating,” Kashif mentioned. “My head was working (however the) remainder of my physique was simply completely numb.”
When Kashif woke from a relaxation, he was stunned to be alive, and decided to outlive. After six hours of trekking, the pair made it to one of many mountain’s base camps.
“The factor that I used to be most afraid of (is) that I do not need to die with out realizing what my physique is able to.”