Hassan Ali Sadpara was from a small village of Sadpara in Skardu region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

He was the first Pakistani mountaineer to have climbed six high mountains, including the world’s highest peak Everest (8848m), K2 (8611m), Gasherbrum I (8080m), Gasherbrum II(8034m), Nanga Parbat (8126 m) and Broad Peak (8051m).

Sadpara, who ran a small shop in a flea market in Skardu, said it was sheer patriotism that helped him achieve his goal. He claimed that the one thought that kept his ambition alive during the deadly mission, was that of hoisting the Pakistani flag atop the Everest.

Inspired by his father and uncle, Sadpara started mountain-climbing in 1999 and the same year conquered Nanga Parbat. He climbed K-2 in 2004 and two years later reached the peaks of Gasherbrum 1 and Gasherbrum 2 within a week of each other in July 2006. In 2007, he made it to the Broad Peak to become the first Pakistani to scale the tallest five mountains of the country.