GILGIT: An institute to train budding mountaineers was inaugurated in Skardu’s Sadpara village on Saturday on the eve of World Mountains Day.

Commander Force Command Northern Areas Maj Gen Kashif Khalil performed the groundbreaking of Sadpara Mountaineering and Adventure Institute, named after famed mountaineer Ali Sadpara.

GB Tourism Minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan, Baltistan commissioner, Baltistan DIG and a large number of local mountaineers, porters, students and international tourists participated in the ceremony.

This will be the best mountaineering and adventure school in Pakistan, the minister said. He said internationally renowned climbers will train local people voluntarily at the institute and added that three mountaineering schools were also being established in the region.

Speaking on the occasion, Maj Gen Khalil said the army will support the local talent.

GB minister says more climbing schools will be built to promote local talent

He said the children of those who sacrificed their lives on mountains during summits will be financially supported and talented local mountaineers will be supported.

The event was organised in support of the GB government and the Pakistan Army.

The organisers said the event aimed to explore the potential of adventure tourism in the region.

Sajid Sadpara told Dawn that the Sadpara village was known as the “mountain heroes of the world”. He said the village produced internationally recognised climbers, like his late father Ali Sadpara, Hasan Sadpara, Nisar Sadpara and others.

Despite limited resources, sons of this village have set records on the world’s highest mountains, he added.

GB is a preferred destination of locals and foreign climbers as it was home to boasts five of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders, inclu­ding the world’s second-highest peak K2 (8,611 metres), followed by Nanga Parbat (ranked ninth at 8,126 metres), Gasher­brum-I (11th at 8,080 metres), Broad Peak (12th at 8,051 metres), and Gasher­brum-II (13th at 8,035m).

As many as 1,400 mountaineers from around the globe arrived to scale different peaks in the region this year.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022