Babar Ali conquers world’s 4th highest mountain Lhotse

Babar Ali has successfully conquered Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world at an elevation of 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), two days after he raised the red-green flag atop Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain at an elevation of 8,848.86 metres (29,031 ft).

He reached the peak of Lhotse at around 5:50am local time (6:05am Bangladesh time) today (May 21).

Babar Ali became the first Bangladeshi to achieve this feat.

Buddharaj Bhandari, Nepali agent of Babar Ali’s Everest-Lhotse expedition, confirmed the news to the media.

Earlier, Babar became the fifth Bangladeshi to conquer Mount Everest on Sunday (May 19) at 8:30am local time in Nepal. This marks the first successful Bangladeshi expedition to Everest in the last 11 years.

No Bangladeshi mountaineer had previously reached Lhotse’s peak, nor had anyone from Bangladesh conquered both Everest and Lhotse in the same expedition. 

Babar Ali began his journey on April 1 to conquer the chilly peaks of the Himalayas. The peak is 15,500 feet above the mountain. At 8:30 am, he hoisted the Bangladeshi flag there.

His journey was sponsored by Visual Knitwear Ltd along with co-sponsors such as Everest Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Dhaka Divers' Club, Beacon Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Blue Jay, Chandrabindu Publishers, Giri and Vertical Dreamers. Many others helped to accumulate necessary funds for the expedition.

Babar’s journey into mountaineering began in 2014. He started trekking in 2010, and he has been climbing various mountains in Chittagong Hill Tracts ever since. He is a founding member of the Vertical Dreamers. 

Over the past decade, he has climbed various peaks in the Himalayas with this club.

In 2017, he completed his basic mountaineering training from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, India. 

In 2022, Babar became the first Bangladeshi to climb Mount Ama Dablam (22,349 feet), one of the most technical peaks in the Himalayas.

Babar Ali is a doctor by profession and a mountaineer by passion. He was born, raised, and educated in Chattogram. He received his MBBS degree from Chittagong Medical College. He is currently working on public health.

Before Babar Ali, Musa Ibrahim stepped on the highest peak of Everest in 2010 as the first Bangladeshi. In 2011, MA Muhith conquered Everest as the second Bangladeshi. As the first woman of Bangladesh, Nishat Majumder made his first leg on the Everest summit in 2012. In the same year, Wasfia Nazreen conquered the Everest as the youngest and second Bangladeshi woman.