Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: February 11, 2022 | 
| 中文
Little Karim while climbing
Pakistan, specifically Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), is blessed with mountaineers of extraordinary skill and grit, who have raised the green flag atop the world's tallest mountains. Nazeer Sabir, Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Hasan Sadpara, Akbar Sadpara, Ashraf Aman, Samina Baig, Sirbaz Khan and others are duly celebrated. Amongst these mountaineering giants is Abdul Karim, popularly known as little Karim, who is grossly underrated.
Little Karim started climbing mountains as a high-altitude porter to earn a living, as is the case with most of the mountaineers from GB. News of the hospitalization of the 73-years old mountaineer at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Skardu, battling multiple ailments, recently resurfaced on media.
Hushe valley, Karim's native village
Karim's native village, Hushe, in the Ghangche district of GB, is the gateway to some of the highest mountains of the Karakoram Mountain Range, including Laila Peak (6096m), Masherbrum (7881m), Gondogforor La (5650m) and Link Sar (7041m). As both his parents were shepherds, going on hikes and climbing hills was a daily routine for the young Karim. Karim would see mountaineers heading towards the Gondogor La and developed a passion for mountaineering at a young age. However, it was his financial circumstances and the lack of job opportunities that prompted Little Karim to start climbing mountains as a high-altitude porter at a young age. As a mountaineer, he has successfully scaled many of the world's 800m+ mountains, including Gasherbrum 2 (8053m), Broad Peak (8048m) and others. The list could have been much longer had there been some sort of financial assistance for his risky endeavors. He had to scale mountains as a porter most of his life in order to earn a living.
Apa Sherpa and Little Karim
The rise of Little Karim as a mountaineer and high-altitude porter reads like a fairytale. A famous British mountaineer, Chris Bonington, was selecting porters in Skardu for his expedition to K2 in 1978, when he met a young man, Abdul Karim Balti, who insisted on joining the expedition as a porter. Bonington said to Karim: "You are too little and cannot become our team member," since he had doubts as to how this little man would carry 25-kg baggage to the base camp of the mighty K2. The 5 feet 2 inch Karim responded by putting his head between the legs of the 6-feet and 6-inch-tall British mountaineer, and with this tall man on his shoulders, ran the length of the ground in one go. Bonington was impressed, and Karim was selected as a porter for this challenging ascent. In his first ever expedition, Karim managed to scale 7000m peak, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Little Karim ready for his expedition.(Photo credits to Muhammad Hanif)
Very obscure and unknown in his own country, however, Karim is arguably the most famous Pakistani mountaineer in Europe. Little Karim's son, Hanif, who himself is also a porter and mountaineer, narrated an interesting story in an interview with Express Tribune in 2020. He recalled that he accompanied his father to Spain at the invitation of the Spanish government for an event, which was organized by the Spanish Prime Minister in honor of mountaineers from around the world. During the meeting, the Spanish PM asked Karim whom he would like to meet while in Spain. Karim expressed his desire to meet the famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. It came as a surprise to Karim and his son that the organizers arranged Little Karim's meeting with the Portuguese star the very next day. Ronaldo gifted his signed shirt to Karim, which he has kept with him despite huge sums offered for it.
Little Karim and his son with Cristiano Ronaldo
In the words of Karim himself, the Europeans treat him like a superhero. He has earned respect and recognition for risking his life to save his fellow mountaineers. Among the many stories glorifying Karim's valor and compassion is his miraculous rescue of a Spanish mountaineer who ran out of stamina above 7000m, while descending from the Broad Peak in 1986. Everyone in the expedition left the Spaniard at the mercy of the harsh weather and descended some 700 meters. At that time, Karim decided to rescue his fellow mountaineer, although the other members of the team advised Karim not to risk his life and leave him behind. Karim made a makeshift sled with some pieces of high-altitude clothing and a harness, and hauled the fellow mountaineer to Camp 3 where his colleagues were waiting for him. Incidents like this happened quite a few times, where he faced death, but it did not deter his resolve to climb the mountains and help his fellow mountaineers. According to Karim, he has lost around 160 friends to mountaineering, over a period of three decades.
Named 'little Karim' by a French Mountaineer because of his short height, the reputation and achievements of Karim as a mountaineer remain unsurpassed. Little Karim is the only mountaineer in the world to climb Gasherbrum-2, 8035-m high, without supplementary oxygen. He is arguably the most popular Pakistani mountaineer in the western world. Laurent Chevallie, a French documentary filmmaker, has made three documentaries on Karim Balti. His documentary titled "Little Karim", won many accolades in France and across Europe, most prominently the French Film Awards, and also wrote a book by the name of "Little Karim" on Karim's life and expeditions.
The book on Little Karim's life and achievements
Lying in bed, waiting for any help that could save his life, Little Karim is disappointed and disillusioned by the lack of recognition of his achievements in Pakistani. The mountaineer who would surmount 7000-long mountains laden with 25-kg luggage in his youth, is now facing hard times. He was forced to put Cristiano Ronaldo’s signed shirt on sale to meet his medical expenditures. Karim’s son, Muhammad Hanif, who is also a porter, said in a video message that he cannot afford his father’s medical expenses as he has been unemployed for the last two years, because expeditions have rarely happened in the Covid years. It was after his appeal for help went viral that the Chief Minister announced that the government of Gilgit-Baltistan would bear the expenses of Little Karim's medical treatment.
Beyond and above his prowess in mountaineering, Little Karim is a gem of a human being who left no stone unturned in helping his community fight the menace of poverty and illiteracy. To honor his services, a Spanish Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) built a hotel for Karim in 2008 in his native valley. Instead of using it for his personal use, he donated the hotel (now worth more than 5 crores PKR) to a trust that would help the community in education and health. The trust has so far provided scholarships to over 300 students in 13 years. In all the interviews that he gave to the media, he has requested schools and medical facilities, a mountaineering school and job opportunities for his village people. Moreover, he has proved to be a trailblazer for women's sports in the Baltistan region as his two granddaughters have scaled the Manglesser peak (6080m) in the Shimshal valley of Gojal, Hunza. It is hoped that they go on to scale many more mountains and inspire the coming generations.
Abdul Karim Balti, popularly known as Little Karim.
Although he is critically ill, Little Karim is not someone who gives up so easily. He is known for snatching life from the jaws of death, as he has done so in his mountaineering career. Little Karim is an exceptional man: a mountaineer who saved others from sure death, risking his own life, and has contributed selflessly for the uplift of his village. The governments of Gilgit-Baltistan and the federal government must give this gifted individual his due recognition.
Sadly, he passed away on April 04, 2022, while still hospitalized from his liver ailment.
You may also like:
