Adventurer Profile – Amir Mehdi

Published: 04.02.2021

Last Updated: 29.09.2021

Amir died anonymously in December 1999, almost written out of history despite the role he played in the 1954 K2 summit expedition by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli.

Pride and jealousy on the part of the lead mountaineer Compagnoni would not just wreck Amir’s mountaineering career but put him out of work for most of the rest of his life.

Mehdi was born in Pakistan’s Hunza Valley in 1913.

As with many Pakistani mountain porters even today he was illiterate and poorly educated.

Porters in the Hunza Valley in the Karakoram Range of the Pakistani Himalayas are known for their high altitude abilities even then and Mehdi became well known for his strength and ability even among his peers.

Thousands of men in the region become porters for mountaineering expeditions today as with the mid 1950s for a lack of employment opportunities.

They are generally extremely poor, and compared to the Sherpas of Nepal are not trained or equipped properly.

The best however go on to be ‘high altitude porters’ – those who climb to the top of the mountains with their client mountaineers.

Amir was among the cream of the crop.

In 1953 he was invited on an expedition with an Austrian/German team to climb Nanga Parbat, a mountain that had then at least as much of a kill rate as K2.

Hermann Buhl became famous for his drug fuelled summit of the mountain, unsupported and without oxygen – amply helped with a large dose of amphetamines!

Amir had made it to Camp IV where he could climb no further thanks to there being no crampons that would fit his big feet.

Still, after Buhl’s crazy summit attempt (reaching the top at 19:00 and then bivouacking before coming down half dead in the morning), Amir met Buhl and together with fellow high altitude porter Hajji Baig carried the hapless mountaineer down to basecamp on their backs.

Amir made a bit of a name for himself on that expedition and as a result was handpicked among the 600 porters for the Italian assault on K2 as their lead high altitude porter in 1954.

The local story is that he would do his climb of K2 in Pakistani Army boots that were two sizes too small for him.

Given that Pakistani porters today often carry their loads of up to 25-40kg the 70 miles from Skardu to K2 Base Camp wearing sandals and other unsuitable footwear this is to be believed!

The mountaineers ascended day by day up the now standard route via the Abruzzi Spur to Camp VIII.

This is where Compagnoni’s story and that of Amir’s and his Italian teammate Alberto Bonatti’s became different.

Amir and Bonatti said that Compagnoni and Lacedelli instructed them to spend the next day descending to Camp VII to collect oxygen bottles and then climb to Camp IX to prepare for the summit attempt.

The other high altitude porters had refused even to go beyond Camp VII but Amir said he had been assured he would summit the mountain with the team.

The promised glory persuaded him.

He and Bonatti did as they were asked, descending 200 metres and then with 30kg of oxygen, back up to Camp IX at 7950 metres, a vertical ascent of 700 metres.

The camp wasn’t there.

Compagnoni and Lacedelli had set up camp further up and in a place that would be too dangerous for their supporting companions to reach that evening.

With night falling Amir shouted and shouted and was eventually heard.

He and Bonatti were told to cache the oxygen and head down.

Amir hadn’t a torch and Bonatti’s had run out of power.

They couldn’t get back to Camp VIII so while Amir pleaded with the lead mountaineers to help, Bonatti prepared a space on the mountainside for what they both presumed to be their last night alive.

At 8,100 metres this was the first time an uncovered bivouac had been attempted – Amir in the wrong sized shoes (not even mountaineering boots) and ill equipped.

It was a little chilly up there too – it went down to -50C that night at that altitude.

They had been left to die, solely as it turned out as Compagnoni believed that the 27 year old Bonatti’s summiting the mountain would get more publicity than it would his ascent as he was middle aged.

Bonatti was more famous in the Italian media thanks to his previous successes as an alpinist.

Yes – Compagnoni was prepared to kill Bonatti out of pride.

On the mountainside it is generally accepted that everyone in your team is your equal and you’re beholden to everyone for their and your safety.

Surprisingly for everyone on the expedition, Amir and Bonatti survived the night and somehow made it back down the mountain on the day of the summit attempt.

Compagnoni would go home a hero of Italy.

Amir would have to be carried back to Skardu where he had all his toes amputated and several fingers taken off due to frostbite induced gangrene.

He was crippled for life and would be in hospital for eight months.

It would take years to learn to walk again with no toes.

His family said he brought his ice axe home, put it away and said he never wanted to see it again.

The Pakistani media was extremely angry that one of their top climbers should have been treated so shabbily.

A diplomatic war of words broke out between Italy and Pakistan.

As a result a government inquiry was convened in the regional capital Gilgit and Amir attended.

His family say he had filed a verbal submission supporting Bonatti but the Italian and Pakistani governments had other ideas.

The official findings were that Bonatti was planning to summit the mountain with Amir’s help ahead of the other two and he was found out.

Also that he had tampered with the oxygen bottles to hamper the other two.

Amir was illiterate so could not tell whether his own verbal submission to the inquiry was written down correctly and whether the truth he had told was communicated correctly (deliberately or otherwise).

He would live under the shadow of that fiasco in penury for the rest of his life.

A comparable man to Amir would be Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who accompanied Edmund Hillary to the summit of Everest.

Norgay would live a good life off the back of that expedition.

Amir wouldn’t even get a disability pension.

He was sent medals by the Italian government but medals don’t feed your kids.

He was also sent books that he couldn’t read so meant nothing to him.

In 1994 he dutifully attended the 50th anniversary of the Italian summit attempt along with the rest of the team.

They shed tears together, including over the fatality of the expedition, Signor Mario Puchoz, during a previous summit attempt.

By all accounts he never solicited or got an apology.

It wouldn’t be until eight years after Amir died, in 2007 that the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) would hold an inquiry as to the actual events on the mountain based on a new account from Lacedelli.

Lacedelli had published a book telling an account that broadly agreed with Bonatti in 2006.

Still too late for Amir to find out.

The report, Un Storia Finita, would exonerate Bonatti and put Compagnoni’s vainglorious summit attempt in the limelight.

The report showed that contrary to Compagnoni’s account, there was photographic evidence to prove they had summited with enough oxygen in their tanks.

In short, it had showed the willingness of the mountaineer to attempt to kill two others and leave one maimed and in penury for life just so he could get five minutes of fame.

This kicks back against the collegiate nature of those on the mountain.

People do die on the mountain, but not because someone wants fame and fortune.

On the mountain, big or small, you are a team of equals.

One race of people is no better than another – if you are on the mountain face and contributing to the team you are there for a darned good reason.

Amir was no exception.