Amir Mehdi

Amir Mehdi was born in 1913 in the Hunza Valley high in the Karakoram range of Pakistan. Starting as a porter, he became the preeminent Pakistani climber of his generation and played critical roles in two of the most significant climbs of the era, the first ascents of Nanga Parbat in 1953 and K2 the following year.

Mehdi was Hunza, a member of a group of people renowned for their high-altitude prowess. He naturally draws a comparison with his contemporary Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa climber who appeared alongside mountaineering’s European elite at critical junctures in the history of Himalayan climbing, most notably the 1953 first ascent of Everest with New Zealander Edmund Hillary. But while Norgay was celebrated at the time as a critical, if not fully equal, partner in the conquest of Everest, Mehdi was denied a summit chance during the 1954 Italian K2 expedition, betrayed and left to die by members of his own expedition.

Mehdi, also known as Hunza Mehdi (sometimes spelled Mahdi), distinguished himself carrying