A man who set up an outdoor activities group for Muslims has taken more than 30 people to Mount Everest, in a hike that has raised £50,000 for charity.
Haroon Mota, of Muslim Hikers, went into his third such expedition suffering from long Covid, but said it was a “special experience” for the group, which reached base camp on the world’s highest peak, where the high altitude leads to low oxygen levels, as reported by the BBC.
They faced temperatures of -20C in the challenge for Charity Right, which says it is fully committed to “ending child hunger by providing regular school meals”.
Muslim Hikers, from Coventry, has another Everest trip planned for November, which is fully booked and has a waiting list.
Mota’s first experience of high altitude came in a 2008 expedition, he said “was the most breathtaking experience ever and it’s what made me fall in love with mountains and the great outdoors”.
He repeated that in 2018 and “after founding Muslim Hikers during the pandemic, I’ve constantly tried to push boundaries”.
All 33 made it to base camp [this time], which is quite extraordinary I think, especially considering the conditions.
Muslim Hikers, which said it was “committed to promoting diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility in outdoor fitness and adventure”, said some participants travelled from the US, Australia and the Middle East.
Mota said of the expedition that sometimes “you need that sort of mindful sort of reset to connect with nature, connect with God”.
‘Create new role models’
“It was very, very challenging nevertheless, and I went into this trip like with long Covid, ‘cos I was in Morocco like the month before hiking in the Atlas Mountains there.
“So there’s less oxygen in the air already, but to go out there on long Covid, it just made it awfully horrible for me from a physical perspective, despite being the fittest I’ve been in my entire life.
“Then I caught a chest infection, caught a fever [and] I was close to being evacuated in a helicopter twice.”
Last year, the non-profit movement hosted 32 hiking events for more than 4,000 people, primarily initiatives in the UK.
People “pray together, we share halal food”, Mota added.
“I’ve been adventuring for 20 odd years and in my early stages of adventure I saw so few people of colour, so few Muslims in the outdoors.
Setting up Muslim Hikers had the objective of tackling under representation, creating new role models, promoting positive representation.
Aashir Khalil
