After reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Chattogram native Babar Ali waved the red and green flag atop the highest mountain in the world.
Prothom Alo received confirmation from Farhan Zaman, the chief coordinator of his Everest expedition, stating that he arrived at the summit on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (Nepal time).
His mountaineering club, Vertical Dreamers, also disclosed the achievement through a post on Facebook.
The post read, “Mother Nature has temporarily placed Babar on her peak with the grace of the Creator and the prayers of millions of well-wishers. The base camp manager and outfit owner confirmed this information to us a while back.”
“Babar is now on his way down to Camp-4,” the report stated in reference to his present location. Since there is no way to contact him in the death zone, getting images will take some time.
Journey to Everest
Babar Ali left Bangladesh for Nepal on 1 April, to embark on his Everest journey. After taking necessary preparations, he flew from Kathmandu to Lukla Airport on 4 April. From there, he began his trek to Everest base camp and reached there on 10 April.
A press statement from Vertical Dreamers stated that acclimating to the altitude is an essential component of an Everest journey. Babar ascended multiple times in order to become used to the altitude. He completed the acclimatization phase on April 26 by traveling from base camp to camp 2. After that, he bided his time till the weather cleared up.
Babar set out from the base camp on May 14 and arrived at camp-2 the same day. He slept there for two nights before moving on to camp-3 on May 18 and arriving at camp-4 on May 19.
The ‘death zone’ refers to the upper portion of camp-4, which is located at an elevation of 26,000. At midnight on May 18, Babar started his ascent again, and by dawn on May 19, he had reached the summit of Mount Everest, which is situated at 29,032 feet.
Physician by profession, mountaineer by hobby
Babar Ali, 33, is a physician by profession. He graduated with an MBBS from Chittagong Medical College. Leaving the medical career, he shifted his focus to travel and adventure.
He set off on an almost 4,000-kilometer bicycle trip last April 13 from Srinagar, Kashmir, and arrived in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, one month later. During the trip, he saw the various landscapes of 13 Indian states and union territories.
He pledged to protect the environment by walking through 64 districts of Bangladesh earlier in 2019. In his publications, he described these adventures.