Hassan Sadpara

Hassan Sadpara was a Pakistani mountaineer and adventurer from Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. He was the first Pakistani to have climbed six eight-thousanders including the world's highest peak Everest (8848m), K2 (8611m), Gasherbrum I (8080m), Gasherbrum II (8034m), Nanga Parbat (8126 m) and Broad Peak (8051m). He was also credited for summiting five of the eight-thousanders without using supplemental oxygen. Contrary to initial reports, Hassan Sadpara clarified that he used supplemental oxygen during his Everest ascent due to bad weather. He was born in Sadpara, a small village in a remote area of Baltistan, some 7 miles away from Skardu, in April 1964. He did not receive any formal education and spent much of his childhood singing at the shrines of the mystic saints of Sindh, Pakistan. He was discovered by a local producer at the age of 12, while singing at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh. He began his mountaineering career as a high altitude porter in 1993 and became a celebrated climber after conquering Mount Everest in 2011. He was the nephew of Pakistan Movement activist Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, a cousin of the former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Owais Ahmed Ghani and a cousin of former Chief of Armed forces General Abdul Waheed Kakar. He had worked as a porter for expeditions, including ones led by Koreans and Poles. He ran a shop for used and new mountaineering equipment in the Skardu bazaar. It was his dedication and self-confidence that led him to the summits of the world's highest peaks. He was awarded the President's Pride of Performance in 2008 and 2019. He died on 21 November 2016 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, after suffering from blood cancer and other serious conditions. He was buried with full state honours and received a posthumous Pride of Performance Award from the Pakistani government in 2020. He was one of the most popular and respected mountaineers of Pakistan.