Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani has become the first Qatari and one of only 350 people in the world to climb the seven highest mountains peaks on seven continents.
The Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) goodwill ambassador completed the Seven Summits challenge earlier this month after scaling the peak of Denali in Alaska, North America, Qatar Foundation (QF) announced.
The 28-day climb was a particularly arduous one due to storms and strong winds of up to 80km/hour, QF said in a statement. But he persevered and proudly raised the Qatari flag at the top of Denali on June 3.
In a statement, Al Thani said that after thousands of hours of training and hard work, he was “extremely proud of having successfully hoisted the Qatari flag on the tallest peaks of each of the world’s seven continents.”
He added:
“I believe we must set our targets high and dedicate ourselves to pursuing them despite all obstacles, because beautiful and great things in one’s life do not come easily.”
Other successes
Sheikh Mohammed, who goes by Moe, is also the first Qatari to climb Mount Everest, a feat he accomplished at the age of 30 years old in 2013.
At the time, he said trekking 8,848m above sea level took conquering the “huge mountain inside me saying I can’t do it.”
Al Thani has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895m) twice, in 2010 and 2014. During his second trip, he was with a group that saw the first female Qataris successfully summit that continent’s tallest peak.
Over the past seven years, his other climbs included:
- Mount Vinson, the tallest mountain in Antarctica (December 2011);
- Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe (August 2012);
- Mount Kosciuszko, Australia (October 2012); and
- Mount Aconcagua, South America (January 2013).
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