Qudrat Ali

Qudrat Ali (born 11 September 1969) (Urdu:قدرت علی) is a Pakistani mountaineer. He is a co-founder of Shimshal Mountaineering School, where he gives technical training in mountain climbing. He is also a distinguished member of the Alpine Club.

Early life

Qudrat Ali was born in Shimshal village, Hunza–Nagar District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. He experienced childhood in the Shimshal Valley and spent his initial years moving in the Alps and became endlessly in love with the mountains.

Mountain climbing career

Qudrat Ali's mountain climbing career started in 1991 when he accompanied Paul Hudson to a peak in Shimshal, he learned the techniques of mountain climbing from him. He successfully climbed four 8000ers (Broad Peak (1999), Gasherbrum I(2004) and II(2000) and the Nanga Parbat(2001)) out of five in Pakistan. In later years he would join accomplished mountaineer Ralf Dujmovits and alpinist Simone Moro to climb different peaks in Pakistan. In 2001 he made a successful ascent of Nanga Parbat without supplemental oxygen, with Ralf Dujmovits, and Qudrat Ali was the main climber to rise every one of the fourteen crests. He has been part of several challenging expeditions including winter attempts of broad peak twice, in 2008 and 2009.

List of mountains climbed

World Record Traverse

Along with Saad Munawar, Qudrat Ali made a world record on 16th July, 2019 by traversing the three Mountain ranges: Himalaya, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush and consequently covering 665km on foot in 23 days. They became the first to achieve this historic feat. During the traverse, they received news of the death of their friend Imtiyaz Ahmed, a fellow mountain guide. The duo halted their mission to volunteer for a rescue mission to retrieve the body of Imtiyaz Ahmed.

Awards

• 2004 - Shield awarded by the Government of Pakistan for his summit of Nanga Parbat.
• 2005 - The Best performance in climbing at Mountain Festival, Islamabad.
• 2021 - President of Pakistan Award.1
• 2022 - Army Chief Appreciation Award. 2

Shimshal Mountaineering School

Established formally in 2009 with the support of Simone Moro, Shimshal Mountaineering School is a pioneer in professional mountaineering training institutes in Pakistan. A dream project of Qudrat Ali and Shaheen Baig, Shimshal Mountaineering School strives to promote healthy sports and excellence in professional mountaineering through extensive hands-on mountaineering training programs. Led by a team of renowned mountaineering instructors, with the treasure of mountaineering experience, Shimshal Mountaineering School has a very customized and tailor-made mountaineering course to suit the needs of beginners as well as advanced level mountaineers. Located at the heart of Shimshal. Shimshal Mountaineering School is the first ever mountaineering institute in Pakistan which initiated an exclusive mountaineering program for women since its inception.

Project Climb4Peace

Qudrat Ali is undertaking his latest expedition Climb4Peace a five-year project with his climbing partner Samiya Rafiq.

Adventures

His adventures include walking barefoot from Gilgit to Shimshal to honor his ancestors who roamed the land barefoot, spending 14 hrs outside at -25 °C using a sleeping bag only, and sleeping in a crevasse. He and Saad Munawar made a world record by traversing three mountain ranges.

See also

• Meherban Karim
• Shaheen Baig

External links

• Facebook
• Shimshal Mountaineering School Facebook Page