Muhammad Machulo – Gasherbrum 2 summit
Muhammad Machulo became the first person to raise the green flag of Pakistan on the top of Gashabrum 2(8035m) for the fifth time.
Muhammad, who was working as a HAP/Sherpa with KTP for their clients from USA and Spain, reached the summit of the 13th highest mountain today at 11:30 am. KTP also confirmed the summit news of other climbers Mr, Luis Cortadellas, Mr.Gonzalo and Mr.Elyse Dalton. All climbers were safely returned back to camp 3 from the summit.
Muhammad (50) from the village of Machulo Baltistan, (Hushe Valley) began his high altitude climbing career in the mountains of Karakoram with his first summit on G2 in 1998. He went back to G2 and repeated the summit right the next year in 1999. In 2004, Muhammad and Hussain( Little Hussain) both from Machulo village became the first native climbers from Baltistan to reach the summit of K2(8611m), the second highest mountain on earth. That year was also the golden jubilee of K2’s first summit of 1954 by the Italians. The, then young climber got twice more opportunities to be on the summit of G2 during 2007 and 2013. On July 18th, 2021, Muhammad did it again for the fifth time and made this glorious history.
Muhammad’s story in the notorious peaks of Pakistan been amazingly interesting and full of bravery. Not only has he summitted K2 and the Gashabrums, he also played major roles in mind-blowing high altitude search, rescue and body recovery.
In 2007, Muhammad played an heroic role retrieving the body of Austrian Markus Kronthaler from the summit ridge of Broad Peak (8047m), Karakoram. Kronthaler had died one year earlier in 2006 from exhaustion on the descent after successfully summiting the peak via the normal route. The rescue expedition was organized and funded by Markus’ brother, Georg Kronthaler. No other 8000m high altitude body rescue mission ever happened in the history of mountaineering until then!!
Muhammad was selected to lead this rescue expedition based on his talent and experience on Nanga Parbat from 2006, when he and his rescue team with the help of Pakistan Army became successful to find out the body of Jose Antonio Delgado, 41, from Venezuela, one of Latin America’s leading climbers, who became stranded in snowstorm at a height of 7,400 meters (24,280 feet) during his ascent of the world’s ninth- highest mountain on July 12,2006. In consent with his wife and family, Mr. Delgado was properly buried near his tent at 7400m on Nanga Parbat.
Before going to the mountain summits, Muhammad, like most of other men in his mountain community of Hushe Valley started working hard at early age as a low altitude porter. He was strong and never feared to go first in many camps on the glaciers and moraines of Karakoram. Before the launching of Ghondoghoro Rescue Guides, Muhammad helped so many porters to crossing over the Ghondoghoro Pass on both ascend and descend, and received enormous appreciation and respect among the Baltoro community.
After working together in the mountains for some time, he and Ali Sadpara (late) were very close friends. They went on Nanga Parbat twice together in winter. Last February, when Mr. Sadpara didnt come back from the K2 Winter, Muhammad looked heart broken and said on an occasion with tears in his eyes that from now on I will dedicate every summit to my friend Muhammad Ali, we cant fulfill the loss of his type of talented mountaineer for years and years!!
