A team of mountaineers from the UAE’s Armed Forces have successfully summitted a 7,000-metre peak in Nepal.
Three members of the expedition reached the top of Mount Himlung Himal, 150 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu, on October 15.
Temperatures during the climb, exacerbated by gale force winds, dropped to well below minus 25 degrees Celsius.
A number of the 16-strong squad were forced to retreat down the mountain avoid the threat of frostbite.
“The successful scaling of any mountain over 7,000 metres represents a major achievement, but one achieved under such difficult conditions as experienced on the 15th October makes the success doubly meritorious,” said a statement from the UAE’s government news agency Wam.
“Undaunted, three Emirati climbers soldiered on into the teeth of the gale, [reaching] the summit some eight to nine hours after setting out from their high camp at 6,000 metres.
“A truly magnificent achievement by Mohamad al Dahoori, Abdulaziz al Tamimi and Tariq al Zarooni, all of whom were veterans of the UAE Armed Forces conquest of Everest in 2016.”
The successful expedition was seen as a precursor to an effort to summit Manaslu, one of the world’s iconic 8,000m Himalayan peaks, in late 2021.
The Manaslu expedition will be part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the creation of the UAE.
