Mountaineers scale 13,500 feet peak in Hazara

MANSEHRA: A team of mountaineers from across the country have conquered the 13,500 feet Ladai peak in Allai area in upper parts of the Hazara division.

“This is our second summit in upper parts of Hazara as we started out the journey from high mountains in Shinkiari and scaled Ladai peak within five days,” Yaseen Rasheed, the group leader, told reporters here on Wednesday.

Rasheed said the team had also summited Chor valley peak while going from Siran valley to Allai during the last winter.

“The trek is mostly snow-capped and mountaineers suffered harsh winter but ultimately reached the summit,” he added.

Rasheed, who had also trekked the base camp of the second highest peak in the world, K2, in 2018, said that they wanted to promote tourism and mountaineering in Allai valley as Swat and Kaghan valleys were already occupied by tourists and mountaineers.

Colonel (retd) Abdul Jabbar, who had lost his fingers of feet and hands to frostbite after summiting world’s highest Mount Everest peak in Nepal, said, “No doubt it is a paradise on earth.”

“This is an accessible mountainous range connecting Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan districts through Kaghan, Siran and Allai valleys and such options to move anywhere in the region are very few at such an altitude,” he added.

He said that he would come again in the coming winter to spend time with local shepherds to enjoy the beauty of nature and the environment.