KARACHI: In his quest to conquer the world’s Seven Summits, the 24-year-old Pakistani mountaineer, Asad Ali Memon, scaled the 20,310 feet high Mount Denali in Alaska and proudly waved the Pakistani flag atop North America’s highest mountain, the third most prominent and third most isolated peak on earth, after Mount Everest.
Earlier this year, IMC signed on Asad Ali Memon for the Denali climb, under its CSR programme Concern Beyond Cars. Asad is an emerging and a high potential sportsman from Larkana, Sindh. Since the beginning of his mountaineering career in 2016, he has summitted several peaks in Pakistan and internationally, setting a world record in 2021 when he climbed the Kilimanjaro and back in 20 hours. Upon completion of his Seven Summits Challenge dream, he will be the third Pakistani to do so.
The Seven Summits Challenge is a mountaineer’s ultimate dream that entails climbing the seven tallest mountains in each of the world’s seven continents. With this successful climb the fourth in the Seven Summits Challenge, Asad is already more than half way done. His earlier climbs include the tallest mountains in Europe in 2019, South America in 2020 and Africa in 2021.
In an emotional video message from the Denali Summit, Asad profusely thanked the people of Pakistan, for their prayers all along and, in particular, Indus Motor Company for its support to make the Denali expedition possible. He said, “It is this love and support that fuels my will and passion to conquer the toughest peaks on Earth.” He went on to insert a peg marking the completion of his climb on the 6,190m high summit.
Commenting on Asad Ali Memon’s achievement, IMC Chief Executive, Ali Asghar Jamali congratulated the young mountaineer and said, “This is thrilling news, Alhamdolillah. A waku-doki moment as we call it in Japanese. Asad Ali has definitely made Pakistan stand tall and proud. It takes incredible courage, will and resilience to overcome obstacles in climbing these towering mountains in sub-zero temperatures. Extreme sports in Pakistan, is unchartered territory and at Toyota, we believe in fostering opportunities for young people, like Asad Ali, for them to excel and reach new heights, also manifested in our CSR programme. It also aligns with Toyota’s transformational vision, ‘Mobility for All’, for creation of a more inclusive and sustainable society.”
Eyeing his next challenge, Asad Ali Memon sets himself for Carstensz Pyramid, the highest peak in Ocean Asia later this year.
Earlier in 2018, IMC had supported two national athletes, Saadi Abbas, the Asian Karate Champion from Lyari in Karachi and Zainab Barkat, the star wheelchair Table Tennis Champion from KPK, standing by their side in their journey towards the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022