Dreaming high, this 18-year-old wants to be the first Kashmiri to conquer Everest

Srinagar:  Known as the youngest professional mountaineer of Kashmir, Rizza Alee is all set to accomplish his dream mission to conquer Mount Everest.

Coming from a middle-class family of Nowlari Pattan in north Kashmir, 18-years-old Alee throughout the winter had prepared himself physically and mentally for the expedition.

While he toiled hard in chilly winters for this mission, the lack of support from government and private sector is leaving him disappointed?

“I have prepared all these years to achieve this dream. Currently, I am not getting any kind of support from government and public, which is disheartening me,” he says.

 Much to his disappointment, Alee claims that many firms in Kashmir rejected is idea to scale Mount Everest.

“I went to many people for the sponsorship, which will include the cost of my equipment’s, travel and food. No body showed any interest to help me. If I am not helped financially now then I won’t be able to achieve my dream,” he said.

Unlike other sportspersons, Alee’s journey from an ordinary shy school boy to an emerging trekker has not been a cakewalk.
The interesting thing about him is not necessarily how incredible of an athlete he is but as an aspiring sportsperson he fought all odds single handedly to prepare himself for upcoming challenge.

“I had a problem called Right Bundle Branch Block in my heart and everybody thought I will never do anything like climbing. But fortunately now doctors have acknowledged that my heart is athletic like my physique,” he says.

He says choosing climbing his passion was earlier objected by many within family.

Alee recently attained a feat to climb 6153m Stok Kangri peak in Ladakh last month.

With this success, Alee, who recently finished his 12th from Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School, has decided to set a record to inspire small-town athletes to dream bigger.

In June last year, he took to this expedition with his friend from Delhi Shubham on June 12 at 9:30 am and reached the Camp 1 i.e, 4400m at 12:30pm. 

“It was for the first time I was going to summit 6000 m, but I was no stranger to it. It is indescribable how I felt when we conquered 6153m peak,” he says.

Narrating his experience while trekking the Stok Kangri peak, Alee says, “We stayed for the night and left at 8:30am for camp 3, which is at a height of 5118m and reached there at 1:30pm. We made a stop before the final summit push, braced ourselves for the worst,” Alee said.

 “I didn’t get any support initially and my parents would always suggest me to forget my passion. But ultimately with my recent success, they are getting more interested in my future plan now. I have made it that one day I will make them feel proud,” he says.

 While Alee dreams to achieve bigger in life, he hopes to get sponsorship to fulfill his dreams.

“I am thankful to my mentor Manzoor Mir, who has inspired me all along and has been helping me to achieve what I couldn’t have done alone. I hope now someone will further come forward to help me in conquering mighty Mount Everest,” he says.