Ali Akbar Sakhi, an Afghan climber and founder of HikeVentures mountaineering and hiking non-profit organization and community, died while ascending the world’s second highest peak on K2 mountain on Thursday, July 21.
Although the underlying cause of Ali Akbar’s death is uncertain, one of his relatives and former comrades told Khaama Press that a lack of oxygen brought on by the high altitude of K2 mountain may have been the cause.
Sakhi was from the Doshi district of Baghlan province, in northern Afghanistan, and has an outstanding track record as a mountaineer.
He and 9 members of his HikeVenture community were successful in reaching Naw Shakh peak, the country’s highest peak, in northeastern Afghanistan after 17 days of ascent.
To help rural communities, the hikers rent horses and donkeys from locals, stay in local lodging, and purchase food and other supplies from locals, a former comrade reminisced about the hikes he had together with Ali Akbar.
The K2 summit, which is 8611 meters above sea level and the second-highest mountain in the world after Everest, is a challenge for mountaineers since it has the most dangerous and the toughest mountain to climb.
Surprisingly, approximately 377 people had successfully ascended to the peak of K2 as of February 2021.
His comrades consider Ali Akbar’s death a huge loss because he was the first Afghan climber to climb K2 mountain.
A source close to Ali Akbar Sakhi told Khaama Press that he was planning to relocate to the United States with his family through a US Special Immigration Visa (SIV). The source added that Ali Akbar Sakhi is survived by his wife and three sons.
According to his close friends, he sought to demonstrate that Afghans can organize anything, even with minimal means, by establishing the country’s first mixed-gender mountaineering and hiking group.—Khaama Press News Agency
