Renowned Pakistani climber Sajid Ali Sadpara on Saturday summited the world’s seventh highest peak — Dhaulagiri at 8,167 metres — without oxygen or porter support.
On May 4, four Pakistani climbers began their expedition to climb Dhaulagiri, located in Nepal. Sadpara had reached the base camp of the peak on April 6 and had begun his rotation and climbed up to the Camp 3 and descended to the base camp.
The feat, confirmed by the Alpine Club of Pakistan, marks Sadpara’s ninth 8,000m peak, all of which were climbed without bottled oxygen and were completely unsupported.
In a statement, Seven Summit Treks said the team successfully reached the summit starting at 9:35am on Saturday, marking the first confirmed ascent of Dhaulagiri in the Spring 2025 season.
The expedition team had previously fixed ropes up to 8,050m and launched their final summit push during a favourable weather window.
The team began their summit push from Camp IV at 6:15pm on Friday, making relentless efforts to reach the top while simultaneously securing the final section of the route by fixing over 350m of rope.
This year, Kangchenjunga has seen an impressive turnout, with nearly 70 international climbers and an equal number of Sherpas taking on the challenge.
“At just 29 years old, Sajid has displayed remarkable endurance, resilience, and dedication to high-altitude mountaineering,” the Alpine Club of Pakistan said in a statement.
His Dhaulagiri expedition was organised by Seven Summit Treks Nepal and Sabroso Pakistan, with technical gear sponsored by Kailas.
“[Sadpara] is the proud son of the legendary Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who tragically lost his life during a winter ascent of K2 in 2021. Carrying his father’s legacy with honour, Sajid has emerged as a powerful symbol of Pakistani mountaineering strength and global excellence.
Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, congratulated Sadpara, calling it “a historic milestone that reflects the strength and courage of Pakistani climbers on the world stage”.
“This is another proud moment for Pakistan and the mountaineering world!”
While speaking to Dawn.com before beginning his summit push, Sadpara had said he would attempt to climb the peak without supplement oxygen and porter support.
Sadpara has already summited eight of the world’s peaks above 8,000m, including Everest, K2 , Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum-I, and Gasherbrum-II.
He has also taken part in rescue operations at several peaks including K2, and plans to summit all 14 peaks above 8,000m.
Sadpara has made a name for himself in the alpine community with his summits of the most daunting peaks at a young age.
He has climbed K2 twice; once without supplemental oxygen. He also set records when he summited both Gasherbrum-I and Gasherbrum-II peaks in three days and 18 hours without supplementary oxygen.
In February 2021, his father Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr went missing while attempting to summit the K2 during the winter season.
Their bodies were found in July, nearly five months after they went missing.
Sadpara described the search for the bodies of his father and other missing climbers as “the most challenging and extraordinary mission” of his life.
“First, the summit of K2 itself was a dangerous adventure and the burial of my father above eight thousand metres was heartbreaking,” he said.
“It was impossible to take the bodies back to base camp so we decided to bury them on the mountain.”
Now, Sajid Sadpara said his mission to summit all 14 peaks above eight-thousand metres altitude without supplementary oxygen would be the fulfilment of his father’s dream.
For him, climbing was something he was born to take up.
“When you get an environment where you listen and practice only to become a mountaineer, you definitely become one,” he explained while talking about his father’s training.
