ISLAMABAD:
As if Patagonia’s iconic Cerro Torre was not enough, 22-year-old David Lama came to Pakistan in July to summit the Trango Tower, widely believed to be one of the hardest rock towers in the world to scale.
The peak is part of the Trango Tower Peaks near the Baltoro Glacier in Gilgit-Baltistan. David and climbing partner Peter Ortner made their way up a famous route known as “Eternal Flame” on the 6,286-metre peak in what was his first trip to the Karakoram mountain range. The ascent makes him one of the youngest men to accomplish the task.
While sharing his experience with The Express Tribune, the alpine climber termed his ascent to be nothing less than impressive. “The mountains are a lot more developed and high in altitude compared to the Alps. They are like sheets of papers with no fixed lines and the surrounding mountain scenery is even more superb.”
Alpine style refers to a self-sufficient style of mountaineering that does not depend on a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain, according to Wikipedia. The style also means the refusal to use fixed ropes, high-altitude porters and oxygen masks.
When asked how he got attracted to the northern areas of Pakistan, David said that the Karakoram Range is known all over the world for its steep mountains, “hence it was a very obvious choice.”
“I stayed here for six weeks and I enjoyed every bit of it. The people are very friendly and I really like the rich culture, but most of all I enjoyed the spectacular mountains,” he said.
Moving on, David said he was only five years old when Himalaya-veteran Peter Habeler watched him climb and noticed his talent as a sportsman. Habeler immediately informed his father, who was a climber himself, and since then, he has been in love with climbing.
As a junior, he conquered an 8b+ route (on a French climbing grade system, which goes up to 9b+) at the age of 12, becoming the youngest climber to do so in the history of the sport. At age 15, he became the junior world champion and the twice winner of the European Youth Cup. With that, he took the step up to the next level and became the youngest ever competitor in a climbing world cup event. David took second place behind Italy’s Flavio Crespi.
However, not content with second position, the Austrian youngster topped the podium at his second attempt before topping again at his home event in Tyrol.
David and Peter will to travel to Alaska, from where they will travel to South America. However, they plan to return to Pakistan next year to summit Chogolisa, a 7,665-metre high mountain in the Karakoram region, which will be yet another challenge as the duo gains more experience in alpine climbing.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2012.
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Well done young man!