Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi mission to Annapurna Nepal, climbers from Pakistan

Sirbaz Khan & Abdul Joshi, Pakistani climbers on Annapurna mission in Nepal

Share Post

Young mountaineers Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi become the first Pakistanis to summit world’s 10th highest peak Mountain Annapurna (8,091m) in Nepal. The climbers have made the summit today at 1:30 pm 16 April 2021. The climbers have thanked the nation and asked for prayers for safe return.

Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan Khalid Khurshid Khan congratulates Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi for their successful Annapurna summit. CM further added: “I congratulate Sirbaz and Joshi for summiting Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak. Indeed, it is a great news for Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and the mountaineering community.We all are very pleased to hear about Sirbaz-Joshi duo’s success. I am sure that this will be only the first of their many great achievements in future, InshaAllah.”

They have dedicated the summit to Muhammad Ali Sadpara (their mentor). Sirbaz Khan is a resident of Aliabad Hunza and Abdul Joshi belongs to Shimshal, Hunza.

A Pakistani climbers team are in Nepal to make mountaineering history by attempting Annapurna to pay tribute to the late national hero of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who lost his life on K2 on 5th Feb, 2021, during the winter expedition 2021.

Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi with two other climbers to attempt Annapurna Nepal to pay tribute to the high altitude porters of Gilgit Baltistan Pakisran, stated before the start of this mission.

High-altitude porters of Gilgit Baltistan had earned some tremendous achievements in past: Hassan Sadpara (late) summited six 8,000er peaks, including the mighty Mount Everest. Little Karim from Hushe Valley summited G- II (Gasherbrum-II) without supplementary oxygen.

Qudrat Ali summited four of Pakistan’s 8,000ers. The legendary Muhammad Ali Sadpara (late) submitted eight of the 8,000ers, highest number of 8000ers as a Pakistani, including a first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2016.

Kamran (Insta @kamranonbike) hopes that his climb will shine a light on these porters, so often left out of summit glory. His small team includes climbers Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi, expedition manager Saad Munawar, who will film it all.

Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi Biography

Pakistan’s ace mountaineer Sirbaz Khan, who hails from Aliabad, Hunza, who started his mountaineering career in 2016. As part of an international expedition in 2017, he climbed Nanga Parbat also known as Killer Mountain (8,124m) in Pakistan, successfully reaching the summit on 2 October 2017.

Abdul Joshi (36) is from Shimshal. Joshi’s first peak was Manglik Sar (height 6050m) when he was 18. He started his mountaineering career as a helper and progressed to become a high altitude porter on 8,000-m mountain expeditions. Joshi once went up till Camp 3 (7,400m) of K2 (8,611m) when an avalanche swept their tents away and crushed their summit dreams. He has also been on a G2 (8,034m) expedition.

HERE IS WHAT THEY HAVE SAY ABOUT THE ANNAPURNA MISSION 2021 NEPAL:

Sirbaz Khan Climber

I had heard a lot about how tough Mt Annapurna is, but yesterday I saw it. It was our first rotation to Camp 1. We had not reached the ABC (Advanced Basecamp) when we saw an avalanche in the distance. Our three Sherpas narrowly escaped from it. After some wait, we descended onto glacier and started climbing. We had gone two hundred meters up when I saw second avalanche coming to our left. I had never seen something like this before. It was massive and the spindrift put an incredible pressure on us. It shook us while we were attached to ropes. It lasted for two minutes and left us covered with ice.

After experiencing that, we were no longer afraid. We continued, but there was no rope after 70m. We went without rope for another 200-300m and established Camp 1 at 5,008 m. We melted snow and made tea. It snowed after 4 pm. At night, the sky cleared, and we could see moon shining above Annapurna. We ate Biryani and went to bed.

After a good sleep, we woke up at 6 am. Joshi made breakfast. We left at 7:50 am and started descending. The weather was great. We descended fast and tried to get out of the avalanche zone quickly. We were back at the base camp in one hour and fifty minutes.

We have now completed our first rotation. In the next 2-3 days, when the route to Camp 2 will open, we will go there and then descend to sleep at Camp 1. The day after, we will go back to Camp 2 and spend a night there. After that, we will return to the basecamp.

Sirbaz Khan Climber

Abdul Joshi Climber

We were near the Memorial point when we saw an avalanche at the glacier. We waited at ABC. Then we descended onto glacier and wore our climbing shoes. After climbing two hundred meters, the avalanche came our way. I covered my face with the buff and looked the other way. Luckily we were not the center of it, but still there was a lot of pressure on our bodies. We continued climbing. There was no rope, but we made it to Camp 1 at 1:30 pm.

How to acclimatize for 8000er Climbers cannot just push an 8000er mountain in one go. They would have to gradually go up to between 5000-7000 meters for conditioning before attacking the summit. This process to get used to the low oxygen is called acclimitization.

Abdul Joshi climber
Abdul Joshi climber



From the base camp, they would asend to establish Camp 1, spend a night there and return. After resting for a day or two at the base camp, they would start over and ascend further up to establish Camp 2. After a night there, they would again descend back. Likewise, they would establish Camp 3 and return.

After establishing Camp 3, the climbers wait at the base camp for the perfect weather window for the summit push. When the opportunity comes, they leave the base camp and ascend to higher camps. They might have to establish Camp 4 on the way to the summit.

Thus, it might take 3-4 rotations on the mountain before the major assault.

Sirbaz and Joshi completed their first rotation to Camp 1 (5,008 m) a couple of days ago. Today they left for their second rotation on the mountain. They are the first team this season to have established Camp 2 (5,550 m). While other teams are at Camp 1, they are the only two people at Camp 2.

Articles is taken from the Instagram account of KamranOnBike. Follow him on insta @kamranonbike. Kamran is playing the role of photographer during the expedition mission to Annapurna with Pakistani climbers.


Share Post

Recommended for you