The world today is surrounded by stories of war. People everywhere are fighting, cultures are constantly clashing, and the earth seems to be close to shattering, but somewhere in the rock climbing community, cultures are attempting to learn about one another through the sport of rock climbing. Scaling large mountain peaks is not something that is social acceptable for women in Pakistan. Like many other things in countries that are distant in culture from North America, rock climbing is reserved for men only. But there are some women in Pakistan who would like to try their hand at climbing a rocky mountain – there’s just something empowering about reaching the top of a very high peak. After forming the Pakistani Women’s Climbing Camp, the group of women who decided to set out on climbing adventures contacted the Alpine Club of Pakistan and the American Alpine Club, together their mission was to climb to the sky.
In order to assist their newfound climbing friends, the American Alpine Club put together an eight member team in order to join the Pakistani Women’s Climbing Camp in Islamabad. On July, 16th, the group was ready to go to Islamabad when their trip was suddenly canceled. The president of the Alpine Club in Pakistan, Nazir Sabir, was filled with sorrow when he announced that "On July 10 reports of blocking of the Karakoram Highway were received in addition to many disturbances in other areas as a reaction to the military response to the siege. For the present, much to our dismay and regret, we have decided to cancel the event as we are not aware as to how long the ramifications will continue." With the threat of violence looming, for now the women of Pakistan will have to wait to meet their American climbing buddies, and they will have to simply gaze at the mountain tops wondering when they will be able to finally reach the top.
Labels: pakistan, wartime conflicts, Women Climber
