Pakistani mountaineer Memon ready to climb Denali

Says the peak in Alaska poses a different challenge than all other mountains

KARACHI:

We are all on the clock but this month Sindh’s premier mountaineer Asad Ali Memon will be feeling it especially as he prepares to climb North America’s highest peak Denali in Alaska.

The two-day journey is a veritable jigsaw puzzle in his quest to climb the highest peaks in all seven continents.

“I’ve got my visa, exactly one month from now I‘ll be heading to summit Denali,” the excitement ran through the phone on April 27 as Memon had gotten his visa to travel just a week before. “My goal is to climb Denali (6,190 metres above the sea level) in two days.”

It is a spectacular goal Memon has set for himself, who is a coastal kid through and through, born and bred in interior Sindh and then being settled in Karachi. The youngster has not grown up near mountains at all, but the love for nature and the sheer metaphorical and physical high of summiting the peaks is his motivation.

His last climb was Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where he was welcomed with open arms by the Pakistani community that lives near the gargantuan peak that he climbed successfully on his speed ascend in February.

Memon is following the trail to climb the highest peaks in seven continents and so far he has crossed off three out of seven that include Mount Elbrus in Russia (Europe’s highest peak), Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (highest South American peak) and Kilimanjaro in Africa.

Denali is his fourth target and so far the most unique and challenging on paper as Memon has never travelled to Denali before.

Glory in isolation

“I can say that my main motivation to climb Denali is my last ascend, because it was something I even didn’t think I could do, the way I did. The Pakistani community came and celebrated with me, they were telling me that no one from Pakistan or Asia has done it the way I did in terms of never travelling there before and just reaching there and starting my climb immediately. So this is making me believe more in my quest and my dream,” Memon told The Express Tribune. “But that was different I can’t compare Kilimanjaro to Denali, it is very different.”

And the 23-year-old is as level-headed as it gets when he explains that there is generally a 60 per cent success rate and that most climbers get to Denali’s peak in 15 to 17 days but for him the risk is there as he is attempting to climb it in 48 hours, similar in time to Kilimanjaro but polar opposite to climate and climb to the conditions in Tanzania.

While he found warm hearts and loving company in Africa, Denali is as icy as it gets, and lonesome too. Denali being roughly 400 miles away from Arctic circle and being the coldest of the 6000m peaks in the world, posing not only scarce population around the Denali National Park but also the sub-arctic temperatures.

Memon points out that the climb is a challenge because of his 48-hour challenge, adding that the area is remote, without many people around to help.

“Normally you find people around to help like porters are available, but here there is a huge Denali National Park and there is no assistance. You are on your own in Denali. Usually in other places one you may find people to show you the path, but it is not so on this climb,” said Memon. “The record has not been achieved by any one in Asia let alone from Pakistan, so it is a unique one for me.”

Memon added that the challenge on the climb in sub-arctic weather is also going to be pulling the sled on his own and working with skis and snow shoes, the gear that he has no experience with.

“I have been watching a lot of videos and I can see the difficulty in pulling the sled that mountaineers take with them to have our supplies on it. Then there is also snow shoes required because if you don’t use this gear you may sink below too fast and too far and the climb would become exhaustive too quickly. Since this is also near the North pole, the air pressure will be challenging so my goal is to make sure I am keeping my energy and I am 100% physically fit. The stamina should be more than what I had in my other climbs and my endurance should be better. There is roughly 80 kilometres distance from the base to the peak so that is another thing to be mindful of while I prepare for this climb,” said Memon.

He explains that he is training for Denali in sessions and will be traveling to Gilgit and Skardu to prepare in snow, and he will also be training in Kirthir Range (in Sindh and Balochistan) to warm up in training.

Sponsorship needed

Memon has been impressive with his goals and intentions but the young mountaineer usually rents out the gear before going on climbs and in Denali, with sub-arctic temperatures, he will be renting out more than usual. He’ll need skis and sled and snow shoes along with other gear, and that alone leaves one admiring and worrying for him.

He explains that the gear is too expensive to buy, and he cannot afford it, but he rents it out. While even going to Denali he has managed to arrange 50 per cent of the expenses but he is still looking for some sponsor for the remaining sum.

“I have my visa. I’ll be fulfilling all the requirements, and yes, I need sponsors too. I’ll be able to arrange 50 per cent of it, but I need sponsors,” said Memon who is ambitious and is willing to make his dream come true. “I have to be there on June 10 at any cost, as far as the effort is concerned I have worked very hard for all my climbs and I believe in this one too.”