Sport

Local mountaineer becomes first Afghan to summit Mount Everest

Published

2 years ago

May 18, 2023

(Last Updated On: )

Samuel Sidiqi, a trailblazing adventurer, on Wednesday became the first Afghan to reach the summit of Mount Everest – etching his name forever in history.

In a message to Ariana News on Thursday he said: “I was able to summit Everest yesterday, and hiked safely down today [to Base Camp].”

Sidiqi embarked on his Everest expedition with the aim of raising awareness and generating funds for the development of skiing and mountaineering through the charitable trust he established, Afghan Peaks.

In conquering this towering peak, he showcased his personal determination and resilience and said he hopes his achievement serves as an inspiring message to the youth of Afghanistan – that with unwavering dedication, Afghans can overcome any obstacle and achieve greatness.

“By climbing Mount Everest, I aim to convey a powerful message to all Afghan boys and girls, empowering them to believe that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to,” he said.

“Despite the challenges that our nation has faced in the last half century, Afghanistan possesses boundless potential for growth. Through hard work and unwavering determination, we can pave the way for a prosperous future.”

Sidiqi has long been dedicated to developing the mountains of Afghanistan in terms of sport, safety and nature conservation through his Afghan Peaks Charitable Trust.

Over the past three years, Afghan Peaks has sponsored an exhilarating ski race in Bamiyan, in Afghanistan.

He stated: “My ascent of Everest serves as a clarion call to the world, drawing attention to Afghan Peak’s mission of developing Afghanistan’s breathtaking mountains, which hold incredible promise for mountain sports and tourism. While we already host an annual ski race in Bamiyan, Afghan Peaks envisions a future of many ski teams across the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, awaiting support from passionate individuals and organizations.”

Towering at an impressive 8,849 meters (29,031 feet), Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the world’s highest peak and for thousands of mountaineers around the world, summiting Everest is the pinnacle in their climbing careers.

May is the busiest month on Mount Everest, and according to The Himalayan Database, a website that tracks Himalayan mountaineering, approximately 80 percent of the 11,341 successful Everest summits have occurred between the dates May 15 and 26.

The peak is located between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China and the first ever recorded people to climb Everest were Edmund Hillary, a mountaineer from New Zealand, and his Tibetan guide Tenzing Norgay. They climbed the mountain in 1953 and hold the record together.

While climbing Mount Everest has become a popular expedition for mountaineers, it is a dangerous undertaking and requires a lot of mountaineering experience and a clean bill of health.

The snow and ice on the mountain create deadly hazards like avalanches, and there is only a limited climbing season due to bad weather conditions.

But perhaps the biggest danger is the altitude. Most climbers are not accustomed to the high altitude and low oxygen levels and rely on bottled oxygen they bring along.

This is why the area above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) elevation on Everest is called the “death zone.” Climbers who spend long periods in this region can develop altitude sickness and even brain swelling.

Related Topics:#LocalMountaineer #MountEverest Afghan ArianaNews featured

Up Next

Hetmyer, Jaiswal dump Curran’s Punjab out of IPL

Don't Miss

FIFA unveils 2026 World Cup logo and branding in Los Angeles

Sport

IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by 36 runs

In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.

Published

2 hours ago

March 30, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Gujarat Titans have beaten Mumbai Indians by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing 197 runs Mumbai could only manage to get to 160/6. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for the Titans.

Earlier Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first. Sai Sudharsan chipped in with 41-ball 63 which helped Titans to put on a decent total on what seemed like a tricky surface.

In reply, Mumbai Indians could only score 160 for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs, with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring with 48 off 28 balls. For Gujarat, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna claimed two wickets each.

With the result, Titans have registered their first win of the tournament while Mumbai after two games remain winless.

In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.

Ariana Television will again broadcast this match live and exclusively across Afghanistan. Fans can tune in from 2:30 PM Kabul time.

Sport

De Kock fireworks see Kolkata thrash Rajasthan in IPL

Published

3 days ago

March 27, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy combined to help restrict Rajasthan to 151-9 after KKR elected to field first in Guwahati.

De Kock bossed the chase with his 61-ball innings laced with eight fours and six sixes as Kolkata achieved their target with 15 balls to spare.

De Kock, who has retired from Tests and one-day international cricket for South Africa and whose T20 international future remains uncertain, showed no signs of rustiness.

“To be fair, haven’t felt any challenges yet,” De Kock said.

“Have had three months off which felt nice. Had about a 10-day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it.”

Kolkata signed De Kock in November’s auction after he was released by Lucknow Super Giants.
He handed his team a quick start, hitting two fours but then lost opening partner Moeen, run out for five.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane fell after a brisk 18 but De Kock stood firm and along with impact substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who made 22, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 83.

De Kock finished with a six off Jofra Archer as Kolkata bounced back from their opening loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Rajasthan suffered their second straight loss.

Earlier, Kolkata fast bowler Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson, bowled for 13, and Chakravarthy and Moeen soon took two wickets each.
Wicketkeeper Samson is Rajasthan’s regular captain but has been forced to play only as a batter in the first three matches due to an injury.

Chakravarthy, who starred in India’s recent Champions Trophy triumph, got stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag out caught behind for 25.

Former England all-rounder Moeen, in for the unwell Sunil Narine, stifled the opposition with his off-spin and was rewarded with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29.

The 37-year-old and Chakravarthy both struck again as Rajasthan slipped to 82-5 in 11 overs.

Wickets kept tumbling for Rajasthan and despite wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel’s 33 and 16 from Archer, they settled for a below-par total.
“I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs,” said Parag. “The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn’t so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs.”

Arora and fellow quick Harshit Rana also took two wickets each.

Kolkata, under Shreyas Iyer who is now Punjab Kings captain after a $3.17 million move in the auction, won their third IPL title last year.

The seventh match of the day will see Sunrisers Hyderabad play Lucknow Super Giants. The live broadcast of this match, on Ariana Television, will start at 6:15pm.