K2 has been particularly cruel to young Sajid Sadpara. It let him live, but it took his beloved father from him. It also shattered his soul and somehow condemned him to return to K2, time after time, to try to make peace with what happened.
The winter 2021 tragedy
Early last year, Sajid was on K2 with his father Muhammad Ali Sadpara, John Snorri of Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile, hoping to summit. A Nepali team had bagged the first winter ascent some days before, but that only reinforced their will to succeed.
This was Snorri’s second attempt on Winter K2, and he was determined. He was not happy with the competition that had developed among teams. The Sadparas, acting as guides, wanted to summit for themselves, for their partner, and for their country. Mohr was a true adventurer whose climbing partner, Sergi Mingote, had died in an accident the same day that the Nepalis reached the summit. Snorri, Mohr, and the Sadparas were all willing to take risks, including climbing during a very short window that opened on February 5, 2021.
Well above Camp 3, the elder Sadpara told his son to turn around. That saved Sajid’s life. None of the others returned.
Sajid’s return in summer
Sajid Sadpara, a two-time K2 summiter, and son of Muhammad Ali Sadpara.
Months later, summer climbers on K2 spotted the frozen bodies of the three missing climbers. Sajid was also on the mountain, keeping the promise he’d made to his family to find his father. He reached the summit and on the way down, he stopped by Ali’s remains. He wanted to bury his father.
Other climbers were also present, including Sherpa guides and porters, and even a film crew with Sajid. But when the moment came, he alone extracted his father from the ice and lowered him down from the Bottleneck.
“Everybody left me,” Sajid told ExplorersWeb through his communication team. (He is not fluent in English.) “But Inshallah, God sent an angel who approached from heights of K2.”
Sajid was referring to Hugo Ayaviri of Bolivia, an IFGMA guide and one of just two men who climbed K2 without oxygen that season. That is why he was also in the last group to descend when he found the young Pakistani. Ayaviri was with another no-O2 climber, Nils Jespers. The exhausted Jespers continued down, but somehow, the Bolivian found the strength to stop and help Sajid with his sad task.
Together, they took the body to Camp 4 and buried him nearby in deep snow. “My family and I are eternally grateful to him,” Sadpara says.
The spot where Sajid buried Ali Sadpara. Photo: Sajid Sadpara
Knocked down and back on his feet
Afterward, Sajid became a celebrity in Pakistan. He was decorated and praised. But as the son of a legend, high expectations piled on him. International expeditions wanted him on their team, from Marc Batard on Everest to Alex Txikon attempting winter Manaslu. Txikon had already bagged the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with his father Ali.
Yet few can endure such pressure and repeated trauma. Sajid broke down at the beginning of his fall Everest expedition. He aborted the climb and went back to his family for some rest, peace, and long-postponed mourning.
Sajid Sadpara, at home in the mountains. Photo: Sajid Sadpara
By this spring, Sajid Sadpara had reportedly recovered and was keen to go back to the mountains. He wanted to form an all-Balti expedition to Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum I and II, but that didn’t work out. Besides, Sajid still has unfinished business on K2.
Back to finish the mission – with some friends
“[Last year] I couldn’t move John’s body due to lack of time and support,” Sajid told ExplorersWeb. “Now I’m happy fulfill my duty as John’s teammate.”
Yet it is far from clear whether moving Snorri’s remains will be possible. Extracting anything from the ice at that altitude is excruciatingly laborious and is only suitable for a big, strong group with plenty of time.
“It’s going to be quite challenging…but I am motivated and hopefully, this time I will have a team to support me,” Sadpara said.
There are no details yet about Sajid’s local team, although he did reconnect with Stefi Troguet of Andorra. The mountaineer of the permanent red-lipstick smile is back in Pakistan to climb K2 and Broad Peak without supplementary O2.
Troguet had climbed Nanga Parbat with Ali Sadpara and was devastated by his loss. Troguet is currently a member of the Elite Exped team, led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma David Sherpa. She told ExplorersWeb that Sajid’s team approached Elite and asked them to join forces. The Kathmandu-based company agreed. Troguet herself won’t be involved in any recovery operation, but at least she will be nearby for moral support.
Sajid Sadpara and Stefi Troguet at Skardu’s airport yesterday. Photo: Sajid Sadpara
