1954 Italian first K-2 summit and Amir Mahdi(Pakistani Supporter) of the time

 Amir Mahdi the Pakistani climber to support the first climbers to reach on K-2

K-2: Pakistani mountaineer Amir Mehdi who was left alone on the world's second-highest peak and was forgotten

There is a small village called Hassanabad in the Hunza Valley on the Karakoram Highway in the middle of the mountains. Once upon a time, there lived a great mountaineer of his time. His name was Amir Mehdi. And their job was to carry their heavy loads up and down the mountains.

Amir Mehdi was a mountaineer but he wanted to hoist the Pakistani flag on the top of K2. He fully supported the first ascent of Italians' mission in 1954. At one point, he risked his life, but in this historic mission, there was a great betrayal of Mahdi on the icy mountains of K2.

The two top Italian climbers, Compagnoni and Lino Lachadelli made a name for themselves in the world, but no one remembered the role of the Mahdi, without his support the mission might not have been successful.

Amir Mehdi was considered one of the most courageous, hardworking and reliable local climbers.

Talking to some of the leading Pakistani mountaineers in search of Amir Mehdi's story, it was soon realized that people don't know much about him nowadays. He was the servant of yesterday who was forgotten by all. It may be that Professor Sher Ali of Karimabad proved to be a ray of hope and he contacted Sultan Ali, the son of Amir Mehdi in Hassanabad.

Sultan Ali is known in his village as Nambar(Mayor). This position during the Hunza period was first held by his father and later passed to him.

"He says that my father wanted to hoist the flag of Pakistan on top of K2, but he was abused on that mission and he got into a lot of trouble. A year before the K2 mission, Amir Mehdi had shown the essence of his courage and bravery with the Austrian team heading to Nanga Parbat.

The following year, the Italian mountaineering team contacted Mir Jamal Khan, the ruler of Hunza state, and asked him for his strongest man for the K2 mission.

Sultan Ali explains: "At that time, out of the crowd of several hundred candidates from the royal court, the name of Amir Mehdi was at the top of the list of local climbers nominated for the job."

What happened next?

Mahdi fully supported the Italian climbers in their mission. The climbers themselves later wrote that there were several hundred Pakistani porters carrying their luggage on that voyage, but Mahdi was different. He was one of the most courageous, hardworking, and reliable local climbers.

The day before the summit, Amir Mehdi and budding climber Walter Bonati was asked to carry an oxygen cylinder from below to an altitude of 8,000 meters for two companions near the summit.

"Most of the local workers refused," says Sultan Ali. But my father agreed because it was a question of Hunza's honor and he was getting a chance to go to the top.

But in the evening, when Mehdi and his companion Bonati reached their destination at a height, they did not see any encampment there. They both gave a lot of shouts to their companions Campioni and Lachadelli, but in the freezing cold and growing darkness, the only thing they heard from afar was, "Put the oxygen cylinder here and go back down." And then they lost contact with each other.

By this time night had fallen, Mehdi and Bonati were exhausted and it was not possible for them to return under such circumstances. The two were forced to spend the night without a tent, in the freezing cold of minus 50 degrees Celsius.

Sultan Ali says of his father that they were ready to die, but he was lucky enough to survive.

Decades later, it was discovered that two Italian climbers near the summit had deliberately moved their tent from a designated place to the difficult place where their two companions could not reach from below. ۔ The goal was to keep Bonati and Mahdi from reaching the top so that only four, not just four, could achieve this historic feat.

The day of the ascent on K-2

The company, in particular, feared that if Bonati had a chance to climb, he would be ahead of them due to his relatively young age and good health.

As soon as the first rays of the sun came out the next morning, Mehdi and Bonati left the oxygen cylinder there and began their journey down.

On the other hand, Campioni and Lachadelli came out of their tents picked up the oxygen cylinders left behind and climbed to the top a few hours later with the help of the same cylinders.

The news that morning Companion and Lachadelli won the award for Italy and became national heroes. But what they did to Bonati and Mehdi was suppressed at the official level. Mahdi suffered the most from this successful K2 mission.

Amir Mehdi  being injured brought down on a stretcher after the summit who was without any such equipment that the Italian climbers used for climbing.

Equipment used by that time

The Italian climbers themselves had climbed with full preparation and necessary equipment. But Mahdi did not even have the right shoes to walk on a high snowy mountain. Mahdi's hands and feet were badly affected by spending the night under the open sky on an icy rock. By the time they walked back to base camp, their legs had responded.

Amir Mehdi was carried on a stretcher to Skardu Hospital after several days of walking. He was later shifted to CMH Rawalpindi.

Life of Mahdi after the first ascent of K-2 in 1954

By then, significant damage had been done. Mahdi's toes were rotten and gangrene was feared to spread further. The doctors had no choice but to cut off all his toes.

When Mehdi returned to his village of Hunza after eight months of treatment, he threw his mountain home to one side and told his family that he would never see it again.

His son Sultan Ali says: 'He was a mountaineer and this home reminded him of the painful night when he escaped death.

His Italian companions returned to Italy, where he made a name for himself in mountaineering, wrote books. But Mahdi was never able to climb the mountain again.

What happened to Mehdi on K2 was a disgrace to both the governments of Italy and Pakistan. Pakistani media outlets expressed outrage over the issue and blamed Italian climbers for Mahdi's woes. However, both governments tried to cover up the dispute.

The pain of Amir Mahdi

Amir Mehdi spent the next 50 years of his life in a state of compulsion. Initially, he was unable to walk and work, and he faced economic hardship. Later he slowly learned to walk again.

He was awarded a certificate by the Italian government, according to which he was honored.

From time to time they received letters and books but they could not read them and their economic problems were not solved by them.

Sultan Ali, son of Mir Mehdi, with a hoe used on his father's K2

According to Sultan Ali, foreign climbers would occasionally visit him after hearing stories of Mahdi's bravery. "Talking to him often brought tears to his eyes. He would tell them that he risked his life for the honor of his country but justice was not done to him."

For a long time in Italy, the true nature of K2 has been shrouded in secrecy. Finally, in 2004, a book based on Lachadelli's memoirs came out in which he confessed the real events. Then in 2007 Italy officially acknowledged that the success of their K2 climbers might not have been possible without the sacrifices of Mehdi and Bonati.

In 2007, Italy officially acknowledged that the success of its K2 climbers might not have been possible without the sacrifices of Mehdi and Bonati.

But by then it was too late because Amir Mehdi had passed away in 1999 at the age of 86 with his heart in his heart.

The honors that Amir Mehdi wanted for Pakistan came about 23 years after the Italian mission, to another climber from Hunza, and in 1977 Ashraf Aman became the first Pakistani to head to K-2 who made the name being first Pakistani on the second mountain of the world. After it, till now he runs the tour agency in Pakistan and facilitate the mountaineers on their missions to reach the giant mountains of Pakistan.