Fujairah: Emirati adventurer Saeed Al Maamari, Director-General of Fujairah Centre for Adventures, announced on Thursday his plan to climb K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen in Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountain Range, to raise the UAE flag and the Dubai Expo 2020 logo to mark the ‘Year of Zayed’.
Al Maamari told the media that his 55-day journey to ascend the Pakistani peak would start on June 5 from Dubai International Airport to the capital Islamabad.
From Islamabad, he stated, he would head to K2, dubbed as the Savage Mountain, due to the extreme difficulty of ascent.
Salem Al Zahmi, Director of Fujairah Crown Prince’s Office, said Al Maamari would be the first Arab to climb the second highest mountain in the world.
He also highlighted and expressed sincere appreciation for the care and support lent by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, for sports.
The Executive Director of Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, Najeeb Mohammad Al Ali, thanked Al Maamari for his initiative which falls within the Year of Zayed.
He stated that in 2014 the Emirati adventurer had raised the Dubai Expo 2020 logo on North America’s highest peak.
At 8,611 metres above sea level, K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest, at 8,848 metres. It is located on the China-Pakistan border between Baltistan, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.
