Another Arab first for Al Rifai

Zed Al Rifai, the first Arab to reach the summit of Mount Everest, is now officially recognised as the first Arab to reach the summit of Mount Cho Oyo.

Zed Al Rifai, the first Arab to reach the summit of Mount Everest, is now officially recognised as the first Arab to reach the summit of Mount Cho Oyo. Zed, on September 22 at 1.50pm Beijing time, announced his success in scaling Mount Cho Oyo's 8,201 metre summit, according to a statement he sent via a satellite link.

Zed originally expected to reach the summit of Cho Oyo on September 23.

"Today, we made it to the top of Cho Oyo, one day ahead of schedule, thanks to teamwork, hard work and the great level of endurance that the whole team has demonstrated throughout the expedition," Zed said.

Timur Edis, regional business manager for Gillette Disposables in the Gillette MENA region, said, "We congratulate Zed for yet another great achievement and invite all youth to take him as a role model. Gillette has been anticipating this moment, and has definitely been excited by his trip and we will always look forward to similar successful initiatives in sports in the region."

Everest too

Gillette Middle East, known for its strong support for sports, is sponsoring Zed's climbing adventure as part of its aim to attract new Middle East enthusiasts to the inside story of mountain climbing heroes from this region.

Zed Al Refai is a Kuwaiti national and the first Arab to climb Mount Everest. He made history by being the 46th person to climb the world's seven highest summits.

On September 9, Zed began his attempt to climb Cho Oyo.

Located on the border of Tibet and Nepal 30 kilometres west of Mount Everest, Cho Oyo's 8,201 metre summit makes it the sixth highest mountain in the world.

Freezing temperatures, a summit at the death zone (above 8,000 metres), extreme weather conditions such as fierce wind and burning sunlight all contribute to making Cho Oyo one of the most challenging mountain climbs.

Remote areas are known to lack terrestrial communications infrastructure, so Zed uses the revolutionary Regional BGAN satellite telecommunications system supplied by Inmarsat, a world leader in satellite telecommunications equipment.