Amir Mehdi
Amir Mehdi was a High Altitude Porter (HAP) and climber from Hassnabad, Hunza, Pakistan. He is known for bivouacking at 8100m during 1954 Italian Expedition to K2. Mehdi was born in 1933.
He was a participant of 1953 German Expedition to Nanga Parbat. Mehdi returned down from Camp IV due to health issues. Hermann Buhl made first ascent of Nanga Parbat. Next year, it were efforts of Walter Bonatti and Amir Mehdi that made first ascent of K2 possible. Both of them shifted bottled oxygen directly from Camp VII to Camp IX, late in the night. To their surprise Camp IX was not present at it's agreed spot. Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni asked them to go down. Already exhausted, descend to lower camp in dark wasn't possible. Walter Bonatti and Amir Mehdi bivouacked at 8100m in freezing cold. Mehdi descended next morning, severely frostbitten and had to undergo several surgeries. He lost ten fingers and couldn't climb again.
He was first Pakistani mountaineer to reach a height above 8000m. Mehdi died in early 2000.
 |
| 1954 Expedition Photo (Source: wikipedia) |
He was a participant of 1953 German Expedition to Nanga Parbat. Mehdi returned down from Camp IV due to health issues. Hermann Buhl made first ascent of Nanga Parbat. Next year, it were efforts of Walter Bonatti and Amir Mehdi that made first ascent of K2 possible. Both of them shifted bottled oxygen directly from Camp VII to Camp IX, late in the night. To their surprise Camp IX was not present at it's agreed spot. Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni asked them to go down. Already exhausted, descend to lower camp in dark wasn't possible. Walter Bonatti and Amir Mehdi bivouacked at 8100m in freezing cold. Mehdi descended next morning, severely frostbitten and had to undergo several surgeries. He lost ten fingers and couldn't climb again.
He was first Pakistani mountaineer to reach a height above 8000m. Mehdi died in early 2000.
Leave a Comment