Renowned Mountaineer Shah Daulat falls to death in Hunza

GILGIT: In a tragic accident, a famous young mountaineer of Shimshal lost his life when he fell while ice climbing a mountain in the Khyber region of Gojal, Hunza district, on Saturday.

Supervisors said that Shah Daulat, a 31-year-old man from Shimshal, was climbing the ice wall while accompanied by a foreign tourist in Khyber village. The climbers were perfecting the skill of ice climbing, as the region receives a steep ice wall in winter.

In the course of climbing the mountain on Friday evening, Shah Daulat slipped while climbing the ice and fell 400 meters, resulting in fatal injuries. He died on the spot.

His body was later found by local volunteers and taken to a government hospital in Sost, which is located near the Pakistan–China border in Khunjerab Pass. His body was dispatched to Shimshal for burial on Saturday.

Shah Daulat was a young and highly respected climber from Shimshal, who successfully summited four eight-thousand-meter peaks including the world's second highest peak K2 (8,611m), Nanga Parbat (8,126m), Gasherbrum-II (8,035m), and Gasher­brum-I (8,080m).

In 2025, he also accomplished the rare feat of scaling Gasherbrum-I without supplementary oxygen, and this earned him recognition as one of the strongest climbers in the region.

Shah Daulat was a relative of famous Pakistani woman mountaineer Samina Baig and part of her K2 expedition in 2022.

In a post on her official Facebook page, Samina Baig expressed strong grief and disappointment:

"Shah Daulat was a true gem in our family-a cherished younger brother (cousin) taken from us far too soon. The loss feels heavy, and words fall short. A young mountaineer, he achieved so much in such a short life, touching many hearts with his courage and gentle spirit.