ISLAMABAD: The veteran French mountaineer Marc Batard, 66 years, has enlisted Muhammad Ali Sadpara, the famous Pakistani mountaineer along with Pasang Nuru Sherpa of Nepal to undertake a five-year mountaineering program, “Beyond Mount Everest”.
Under the project, the trio plan to scale Nanga Parbat in 2019 and K-2 in 2021, while Mount Everest in 2022 to mark the 70th Birthday of Marc Batard, said a press release received here from Pakistan Embassy in France.
Batard met the envoy of Pakistan to France Moin-ul- Haque recently and briefed him about this unique expedition and his plans to set up a mountaineering school in Nepal.
During this meeting, the Ambassador encouraged Batard to include a Pakistani mountaineer in his expedition and also requested him to consider setting up a specialized mountaineering school in Pakistan as well to provide training to the porters and professionals.
During the meeting, Batard affectionately recalled his pleasant experiences of mountaineering in Pakistan and hoped that the inclusion of Muhammad Ali Sadpara in the team would help in building a positive image of Pakistan.
The “Beyond Everest” adventure, which will be interspersed by ascents of high altitude mountain peaks of the world in the next five years, also include major peaks of Pakistan, hosts to most of the world highest mountains.
Muhammad Ali Sadpara, 41-year-old world renowned Pakistani mountaineer has successfully scaled Nanga Parbat (8126 m) in winter of 2016, along with Simone Moro and Alex Txikon of Italy and has a dozen ascensions of ‘eight-thousands mountains’ to his credit.
