History was made on Saturday when Raha Moharrak, a female climber from Saudi Arabia made it to the summit of the highest mountain on Earth, Mt. Everest, with 34 climbers of many different nationalities. The whole group also included 29 Sherpa guides from Nepal. She was in the company of three other Arab climbers in an expedition to raise money.
An official of the Mountaineering Department of Nepal has confirmed that Moharrak has summited and made it back to camp safely.
Arabs with Altitude
Arabs with Altitude has tweeted their congratulations with a post announcing that the first woman from Saudi Arabia has conquered the mountain in the company of friends from Palestine and Qatar. Moharrak is also the youngest ever Arab to reach the top of the mountain. Along with her, the first man from Qatar and the first man from Palestine also summited the formidable peak.
“Bravo Raha Moharrak. We salute you,” said the tweet. The successful Arab with Altitude climbers are Mohammed Al Thani, Raed Zidan, and Masoud Mohammad. Al Thani is Qatar royalty. Zidan is a real-estate entrepreneur from Palestine. Mohammad is the owner of an ice-cream franchise and is from Iran.
Raising money for educational projects
Raha Moharrak is a 25-year old graphic artist. She headed out from the highest camp at 29,035 ft. Moharrak is one of four climbers who undertook an expedition in order to raise money for projects related to education in Nepal. They are hoping to raise a million dollars for the project in cooperation with the organization, Reach Out to Asia. The details of the project are presented in their website.
Moharrak was quoted as saying that she does not care that she is the first Arab woman to achieve this. What matters to her is that her achievement “inspires someone else to be second.” She has broken two records in her successful climb.
Conservative origins
Moharrak came from a typically conservative Muslim family and it took a lot before she was given the permission to climb. The obstacles that she needed to overcome just to convince her family were as big as the mountain itself. Moharrak’s family fully supports her especially now that she has achieved her goal.
She was born in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia where women’s rights are limited and very much restricted. Moharrak graduated from the University of Sharjah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Two months ago, the group of four Arab climbers made the announcement that they would summit Everest this year.
The highest mountain on Earth
The month of May is an ideal time to attempt the peak due to prevailing favorable weather on the mountain. Mt. Everest, which sits right at the border of Nepal and Tibet, is one of the many towering giants of the Himalayan mountain range. The mountain was first conquered by climbers when Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand summited with his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. They were climbing as part of the 9th British expedition to Mt. Everest led by Sir John Hunt.
Photo Credit: Mount Everest
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