KUALA LUMPUR – Mohd Khafiz Bachok became the second Malaysian mountain climber to conquer the second tallest mountain in the world after Mount Everest, known as Mount K2, which is located in Pakistan, accomplishing his dream of 25 years.
Khafiz, 45, from Pontian, Johor managed to reach the peak of the mountain, at a height of 8,611m at 11.52am local time (2.52pm Malaysian time), a climb regarded as the most dangerous and most difficult in the world.
Rozaimi Mohd Said, the manager of the ZEROTO8000 mission, said Khafiz, who had started his ascent from Skardu, took eight days to reach the base camp, but started the process of acclimatisation to high altitude rotations only on July 12 due to bad weather conditions.
“The rotation process of acclimatisation to Camp 2 was done before returning to base camp and the actual climb only started on July 22. He reached Camp 3 which is situated at a height of 7,254m on Tuesday.
“The climb to the peak started yesterday at 5.40pm local time. The climb is part of the ZEROTO8000 mission which was set up by Khafiz himself and started as an initiative to inculcate self-confidence and a sense of independence among Malaysians,” he said in a statement today.
According to Rozaimi, ZEROTO8000 reflects Khafiz’s mission, which started at a height of 0m from Tg Piai, Johor and ended on Mount K2 at 8,000m and above, and has since become a symbol for his own efforts.
Rozaimi said Khafiz had managed to source the funds needed for the mission which amounted to RM500,000 by selling his house and ZEROTO8000 products, as well as by organising mountain-climbing expeditions to other countries.
After having climbed Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain, which is 8,163m tall with fellow ZEROTO8000 team member R.J. Nagarajan last year, Mount K2 is the second mountain he has climbed at a height of more than 8,000m.
Khafiz has also climbed Mount Aconcagua (6,961m) in Argentina in 2016, Kilimanjaro (5,895m) in Tanzania, Cartens Pyramid (4,884m), Papua, and other high peaks in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
In July 2022, T. Ravichandran, better known as Ravi Everest, created history by becoming the first Malaysian to conquer Mount K2. – Bernama, July 27, 2023
