Muhammad Ali Sadpara (Urdu: محمد علی سدپارہ; (1976-02-02)2 February 1976 – February 2021)[2] was a Pakistani high-altitude mountaineer. He was part of the team (which included Italian alpinist Simone Moro and Spanish alpinist Alex Txikon) that completed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2016.[3] Throughout his career, Sadpara successfully climbed a total of eight eight-thousanders, four of which he ascended in a single calendar year.[4]
Early life
Sadpara was born on 2 February 1976 in the village of Sadpara, located near Skardu in Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan.[5][6] He was the youngest of eleven children, and eight of his siblings did not survive childhood. He married his wife, Fatima, when he was 19 and had his first son, Sajid, shortly afterwards; he had a total of three children.[7] He completed his FA from a government college in Skardu[8] and was a member of his college football team.[9] He began his career as a high-altitude porter, serving as an assistant in mountain-climbing expeditions.[10] Like most other porters, Sadpara traversed the Baltoro Glacier in flip-flops and castoff gear.[11]
In 2015, Sadpara's team attempted to scale Nanga Parbat during wintertime and were unsuccessful. The team attempted another winter ascent in 2016 and successfully summited its peak, resulting in the first-ever winter ascent of the mountain. Sadpara would successfully summit Nanga Parbat four times in his mountaineering career.
In June 2018, he joined Frenchspeed climberMarc Batard [fr][15] to undertake a five-year program known as "Beyond Mount Everest". The pair planned to summit Nanga Parbat, K2 and Mount Everest in 2019, 2021, and 2022, respectively.[16]
During the winter season of 2020–2021, Sadpara, along with his 21-year-old son Sajid (who had also climbed K2 in 2019), teamed up with Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri Sigurjónsson[17] and Chilean mountaineer Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto[18] for a joint ascent of K2. After acclimatizing, the team left the highest camp on the evening of 4 February 2021. Sajid was later forced to descend due to an oxygen regulator malfunction,[19] leaving the other members of the team at the K2 Bottleneck, close to the summit. Sadpara, Sigurjónsson, and Prieto continued their ascent to K2's summit, but did not return by night as planned, and were declared missing on 5 February 2021.[20][21] A rescue mission with two Pakistan Army helicopters was organized on 6 February 2021 to search for the team.[22][23][24]
On 18 February 2021, Pakistani authorities announced that the three men were officially presumed dead, but the search for their remains would continue.[25][26] Sadpara's family also declared him as presumably dead on the same day.[27] On 26 July 2021, three bodies believed to be of the missing mountaineers were found on the slopes above Camp 4.[28][29] Sadpara's body was found around 300 meters (980 ft) below the K2 Bottleneck.[30] The bodies were found by a Madison Mountaineering Sherpa Team that was fixing ropes above the camp.[31] Sajid then retrieved the bodies of the three missing climbers including his father.[32]
^Jajja, Sumaira (18 February 2021). "Sadpara, two other mountaineers missing on K2 declared dead". Dawn (Pakistan). Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021. The three climbers were last seen on Feb 5 near the Bottleneck on K2 as they attempted to reach the summit of the Savage Mountain. Sajid Sadpara, who was accompanying the three, had to abandon his summit bid after his oxygen regulator malfunctioned and he returned to camp 3.
