ISLAMABAD: Nelly Attar, a Lebanese mountaineer born and raised in Saudi Arabia, on Monday started a 50-day journey to grow to be the primary Arab ladies to succeed in K2, the world’s second highest mountain, saying she wished to make use of her climbs as a car to encourage ladies throughout the Center East.
In 2017 Attar left her profession as a psychological well being skilled to concentrate on sports activities and expeditions. She is the founding father of Transfer Studio, Saudi Arabia’s first dance studio. In 2020, the Muslim Girls Community named her “One of many High Influential Girls in Sports activities,” whereas Sports activities 360 in 2019 known as her the “Feminine Health Influencer of the Yr Throughout the GCC.”
Attar efficiently climbed Mount Everest in 2019 and had scaled 15 different peaks around the globe earlier than setting her sights on K2.
At 8,611 meters (28,251 foot), K2, often called the Savage Mountain, is extensively thought-about essentially the most harmful climb on the earth because of its troublesome terrain and treacherous climate. Fewer than 20 ladies globally have summited K2 and for about each 5 individuals who have reached the highest of the mountain, one has died within the try.
In 2014, three Nepali ladies led the primary all-female crew to climb what most mountaineers take into account a a lot harder problem than Everest.
“I’m embarking on essentially the most difficult journey to climb Okay-2 on June 20,” Attar advised Arab Information in an interview in Islamabad final week. “I really feel like there’s a lot unknown, there’s a lot to this journey that we are going to be embarking on, so I’m very excited.”
Attar mentioned that she had been enthusiastic about climbing K2 for the previous three years however her father’s demise final yr had sparked the urge to place her dream into motion on the primary anniversary of his demise.
“It was a really troublesome time for me and I used to be simply considering how can I discover the aim of this yr that might give a little bit of drive and pleasure, so I began work on the concept of K2,” she mentioned.
In any case, the love for mountaineering and climbing, too, was a present from her father who she used to accompany on treks from an early age.
“This was one thing I really feel like was a part of my childhood and my first climb was with my father once I was 17, when he took me to Mount Kenya,” Attar mentioned. “I favored the game of mountaineering since you take so many dangers and with these dangers, you’re feeling so alive and all the pieces in life is amplified.”
The climber skilled for K2 in Nepal at Ama Dablam, a 6,000 meter peak that many mountaineers say resembles K2.
“I went to Ama Dablam in early December final yr and after coming again was prepared for mission K2,” Attar mentioned, including that she felt prepared for the mountain’s powerful climate, altitude and terrain.
“I’m not afraid, it doesn’t matter what occurs . . . I’ve large religion that Allah is at all times with us and by no means leaves us and has the very best plans for us,” the climber mentioned, urging different Arab and Pakistani ladies to pursue their goals.
“They will do it, whatever the challenges that they’re confronted with, whatever the limitations, they will do it,” she mentioned. “Nothing, and nobody ought to cease you. When you have a imaginative and prescient, in case you have a dream, go and obtain that dream . . . Don’t use your circumstances as an excuse, use them as your cause to go ahead.”
Attar is now centered on utilizing her expertise and information to assist form the rising sports activities panorama in Saudi Arabia.
Past Transfer Studio, she has labored on quite a few public sector initiatives to get individuals lively throughout the Kingdom, together with partnering with Saudi Tourism initiatives and collaborating with international manufacturers comparable to Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Nestle and Apple to hold out group initiatives and actions throughout the GCC area.
“It’s wonderful to see that there are such a lot of alternatives for ladies,” Attar mentioned, describing the sports activities panorama within the Kingdom. “They don’t seem to be solely inspired now to participate in sports activities and companies (in Saudi Arabia) however they’re closely supported.”
