Mirza Ali Beg (born 10 July 1983) is a Pakistani mountaineer and the first Pakistani man to summit all seven highest peaks in seven continents.[1] Also, Mirza is a professional tourism expert, he is the pioneer who introduced extreme sports to women in Pakistan and made several documentaries related to the extreme adventure in Pakistan particularly women in mountaineering and outdoor.
Mirza Ali Beg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Mirza Ali Beg 10 July 1983 |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Occupation(s) | Mountaineer, photographer, social worker |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Samina Baig (sister) |
Early life and career
editMirza Ali Baig grew up and was raised in the remote village of Shimshal. After passing his 8th grade exams in the village, he moved to the town of Gulmit for high school. Mirza Ali while in high school worked with foreign trekking groups and expeditions as a porter. He had his first mountain climb at the young age of 16 at Mingligh Sar (6050m) in Shimshal Pamir. Since then he has lived out his love for the outdoors in multiple climbing expeditions, besides continuing his education in Karachi where he acquired his bachelor of Commerce from Karachi University.[2]
Working in different capacity in tourism industry, he joined his other cousins to work as high altitude porter. He observed there are less local people exploring the mountains, valleys, passes and beautiful glaciers of Pakistan. He also didn't find any major local expeditions or mountain related tours in Gilgit-Baltistan, most ironic he found women participation in outdoor sports such as mountain expeditions almost zero.
He also worked for women empowerment and gender equality through mountain adventure. His lifetime achievement was when his sister reached the summit of Mt. Everest on 19 May 2013 being the first female from Pakistan to do so.[3]
Pioneer of Women adventure/Gender Equality
editMirza Ali started his campaign to encourage women in outdoor sports and mountaineering, though meager resources it took him long, until 2009, when he was able to organize an expedition to 7000m peak where a girl from Lahore also took part, from there Mirza Ali continuously organized various expedition with his sister. It was Mirza's encouragement and planning that made possible for Samina Baig to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
As a photographer his photos were exhibited by the US embassy in Islamabad[4] and his adventure documentaries "SAMINA, Muhim Chashkin Sar"[5] and ”Ugli Rut ki Dastak”[6] short film/ promotional AD for Gender Equity are aired from nearly all mainstream TV channels in Pakistan. Mirza climbing missions are not just to reach the summit but reaching a purpose and mission, the gist of his climbing’s are based on Gender equality, women empowerment, his sacrifice to let his sister to the summit of Mt. Everest without him, when they were just 248m from the summit is a great lesson of women empowerment to other fellow Pakistani men.
7 Summits 7 Continents
editAfter Everest expedition for Gender equality and women empowerment, he created yet another project 7 Summits 7 Continents. For Adventure diplomacy, connecting people through Mountains, thus Mirza could bring 5 embassies together to be support group as “Adventure Diplomacy Support Group” Mirza Ali went on this Diplomacy expedition with his sister to conquer the 7 highest peaks in 7 continents and within eight months Samina Baig conquered all 7 Mountains while Mount Everest remained to be conquered by Mirza Ali. He later conquered Mount Everest in 2019 and they became the first Pakistani siblings to complete the Seven Summits.[7][8]
Beyond The Heights
editBeyond the Heights is a documentary about Samina Baig's journey from her remote mountain village to the top of Mount Everest. It was premiered on 5 March 2015 in Islamabad and was released on limited screens around Pakistan.[9]
Other works
editPakistan Youth Outreach
editMirza Ali founded an NGO Pakistan Youth Outreach which aims to promote Gender Equality through education and adventure sports among youth and women in Pakistan. Mirza is providing training and organizing expeditions for students of various schools, colleges and universities, of Pakistan putting his entire effort to bring mountaineering as sports in Pakistan.[10]
School in Arandu
editIn 2011, Mirza Ali decided to start the project of school in Arandu. This school provides education to 450 boys and girls.[11]
National Youth Skiing Camp
editIn January 2015 first ever National Youth Skiing Camp was organized by Mirza Ali with the strong support from Stephen Keck and Andreas Ehrensberger from Austria. Around 33 participants from various parts of Pakistan came to the ski camp.[12]
List of Mountains climbed
edit| Name of Peak | Name of Group | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Samina Peak (6400m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / SatwaGuna | 2010 |
| Mingli Sar(6050m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach 1st Pakistan Woman Winter Expedition | 2010 |
| Koh-i-brobar (6008m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach | 2011 |
| Mont Blanc (4805m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach | 2012 |
| Mount Aconcagua (6961m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | December 20 2013 |
| Mount Vinson (4892m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | January 10 2014 |
| Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | February 15 2014 |
| Carstensz Pyramid (4884m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | March 25 2014 |
| Denali (6190m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | July 3 2014 |
| Mount Elbrus (5642m) | Pakistan Youth Outreach / 7 Summits 7 Continents | July 24 2014 |
| Mount Everest (8848m) | – | 22 May 2019 |
| Kangchenjunga (8586m) | – | 25 May 2022 |
| K2 (8611m) | – | 31 July 2023 |
References
edit- ^ "Mirza Ali Baig – First Pakistani To Scale 7 Summits in 7 Continents".
- ^ "Aiming High with the First Pakistani Women's Winter Climbing Expedition". Karakorum climber News.
- ^ "First Pakistani woman to scale Everest". The Hindu.
- ^ "Ambassador's Official Remarks". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ "Samina Muhim Chashkin Sar".
- ^ "Agli Rut Ki Dastak Samina Baig Eng Subtitles".
- ^ "7 Summits on 7 Continents: Samina Baig, Mirza Ali all set to leave for Adventure Diplomacy Expedition".
- ^ "Samina Baig becomes first Pakistani woman to conquer seven highest peaks". Dawn.
- ^ "Documentary Traces Mountaineer's Footsteps". Dawn.
- ^ "Pakistan Youth Outreach: a doorway to the splendor of Karakoram".
- ^ "The Story of School by Mirza Ali". Pakistan Youth Outreach.
- ^ "Deep in the mountains: Skiing camp offers place to hone winter sports' skills".