K2 is the Earth’s second-highest mountain but for Sajid Ali Sadpara it is more than “just a mountain” — it is also his father’s final resting place.
However, this magnificent and awe-inspiring peak is now blighted by litter, and Sajid is on a mission to clean it.
In a rare act of charity in one of Earth’s most unforgiving environments, Sajid and his five-strong team scaled the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) spur of rock, clearing oxygen canisters, mangled tents, and snarled rope discarded over decades by climbers.
Sajid Ali Sadpara stands amid discarded tents, litter at the K2. — AFP/File
Sajid Ali Sadpara stands amid discarded tents, litter at the K2. — AFP/File
They spend a week precariously ferrying back down some 200 kilograms (400 pounds) of litter hacked from the pinnacle’s frozen grip.
It is a high-altitude tribute to Sajid’s father, legendary climber Ali Sadpara, honouring the place where they bonded in nature and where his body remains after a 2021 father-son expedition fell foul of the “savage mountain”.
“I’m doing it from my heart,” Sajid told an AFP team at K2 Basecamp, where 5,150 metres (m) of elevation labours breathing and avalanches tremor off an amphitheatre of surrounding slopes.
“This is our mountain,” the 25-year-old said, sizing up the task above. “We are the custodians.”
