Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: An Omani climber made history as the first Arab to reach the summit of Rwenzori Mountain in Africa.
The Rwenzori summit is 5,109m above sea level on Mt Stanley’s Margherita peak.
And on January 3, 2017, Hamad Al Harthy reached the peak after a five-day journey.
Mt. Stanley is bisected by the border of Democratic Republic of Congo. Al Harthy took five days to reach the summit, and two days to come down.
The Rwenzori Mountain is a spectacular mountain range located in Africa on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The range is not volcanic, but consists of crystalline rock that moved upward from the earth’s crust, Al Harthy noted.
Ancient people called the range “the Mountains of the Moon.” Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer in AD 150, first used this name on a map.
The mountains were thought to be the source of the Nile River. Indeed, melting snows from the range do feed some of the farthest Nile tributaries, he added.
“I like to challenge myself to explore new places, try new things and scale new heights,” he said.
“Just before reaching the summit, I was very exhausted. This is the time when one doubts himself (I call it make or break) and thinks of giving up. But all the time I reminded myself that I have a goal to achieve,” Al Harthy narrated.
“That kept me going,” he said.
“Crossing the Margherita’s hard glacier and passing through dangerous crevasses at night was the difficult part. For every step we do, we have to check to make sure there are no crevasses.
Any mistakes and one could fall inside the crevasse and it could be deadly,” he said.
Al Harthy stayed on the summit less than 15 minutes, as the weather was very cold and windy, he said.
“Bad weather could put us in a dangerous situation. We took pictures and quickly descended, as we needed at least nine to ten hours to reach the camp,” he explained.
Recalling his joy, Al Harthy said, “I was happy. I thanked God and then my two guides for supporting me to reach the summit. I felt proud to represent my country,”
Al Harthy reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro twice in Tanzania. “This was just hiking. I have also climbed Mount Bonete in Argentina,” he said.
The climber said he has once reached the summit of Mount Karisimbi in Rwanda.
“This was hiking through the mud. Mount Rwenzori has all of that, plus technical climbing. Those were the kind of difficulties I faced, in addition to the extreme cold and wind,” he added.
Al Harthy said he is also the first Omani to attempt Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.
“Hiking and climbing have become popular in recent years in Oman. There is a lot of untapped potential among young Omanis. I encourage the private sector to sponsor potential young Omanis,” he emphasised.
