12-year-old Humam Ahmad Of KP Wins 6th National Snow Hiking & Trekking Title

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Feb, 2018 ) :Out of 300 participants, a promising 12-year-old Humam Ahmad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa created a new national record by winning National Snow Hiking and Trekking Championship organized jointly by Directorate of Sports KP and the Alpine Club of Pakistan at hill resort Nathiagali on Sunday.

The Alpine Club of Pakistan is affiliated with International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation and International Federation of Sport Climbing which involved more than 300 male and female players from across Pakistan in the Championship played in three different categories.

Hailing from KP Humam Ahmad, who is also holding Pakistan No. 1 ranking in Under-11 category in squash, cleared a hectic distance despite heavily covered snow trekking and got first position overall.

Abu Zafar Sadiq, the Secretary General of the Alpine Club of Pakistan and Secretary Alpine Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Najeeb Ullah Khattak lauded Humam Ahmad of winning gold medal in the National Hiking and Trekking Championship.

It is for the first time that 25-member male and female teams took part in the National Snow Hiking and Trekking Championship under the supervision of Directorate of Sports KP and Alpine Association KP.

Besides Humam Ahmad, Hanzala Zafar of Islamabad took silver medal while Humam's elder brother 14-year-old Haris got bronze medal. Women category Chaman Mushtaq of Islamabad recorded first position, followed by Saba Ahmad of Sindh and Mahjabeen of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the Men's overall competition wherein 133 participants Sajid Aslam of Azad Jammu and Kashmir took gold medal, Muhammad Riaz of Balochistan won silver medal and Junaid Ali of Islamabad got third position with bronze medal.

The female of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa comprising Laiba Ahmad, Kalsoom, Zohra, and Kainat recorded fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh position out of a total of 112 contestants. The male of KP comprising Muhammad Bakhtiyar got overall fourth position, followed by Tahir Khan and Shams-ur-Rehman fifth position.

Speaking on this occasion Abu Zafar Saqid lauded DG Sports KP Junaid Khan for extending all out support to the organizing committee besides sending KP teams for the Championship for the first time in game history.

He said KP boys and girls have lost of talent if provided due opportunities of snow hiking, trekking, mountaineering. He said there are more narrow hiking and trekking spots at Nathiagali, famous for its scenic beauty and trekking.

He said players from across Pakistan took part in the snow hiking and trekking under pine and oak trees and lush green grass adding to the beauty of Nathiagali. The mountains in Nathiagali are great for trekking, he said, adding, "the Championship attracted large number of youth both male and female in this adventurous sports financed by the DG Sports KP with the aim to provide ample opportunities to the youth to come and enjoyed adventurous sports." He said, the trekking started from the Governor House till Miranjani Hill which is the tallest in that area and the height is 2960 meters.

The participants were divided in three different categories. He said in the first category boys in the age of Under-20 took part in the male contest, followed by girls and youth categories. He said after day long trekking, which also attracted tourists from the entire country and foreigners as well.

Nathiagali is also a great station in the snowfall season, he said, adding, "It is covered with snow entirely and adds to its scenic beauty. One can plan a trip and take their kids where you can make a snowman and have a snow fight." He said a final selection would be made so that all the top position holders would be kept in the camp for further training so that they could represent Pakistan in the international events as well.

At the end, he distributed medals and trophies to the position holders. He also appreciated Najeed Ullah Khattak for his efforts in fielding KP players in the national event.