Pak-China expedition: Eight mountaineers reach base camp

ISLAMABAD:

A three-member mountaineering team of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) has reached the base camp of the Muztagh Ata Mountain in China.

The team, which is participating in a Pak-China Friendship Expedition, is aiming to scale the 7,548-metre mountain located in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China.

The three Pakistani mountaineers — Rehmatullah, Dr Naveed Iqbal and Ahmed Mujtaba — and their Chinese counterparts reached the 4,200-metre base camp of the mountain on July 10.

Sadiq said the expedition plans to establish a climbing route up to Camp I at 5,200 metres this week after acclimatisation at the Base Camp. The Chinese team consists of five climbers and is led by the Vice President of the China Mountaineering Association.

The team is expected to return by August 1. The expedition is a tribute to the two Chinese climbers who were slain, among other foreign climbers, by terrorists at the Nanga Parbat base camp in Pakistan on June 22.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2013.