In a country which ranked 143 out of the 144 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report in 2017, one northern village really shines through. In Shimshal, a small rural community some 3,100m high in the in Hunza-Nagar District of Pakistan there are women literally climbing shoulder to shoulder with the men. Their story is highlighted by Shehrbano Saiyid, an independent documentary maker from Karachi in her latest work The Unknown Mountaineers. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the talented filmmaker to discuss the story behind her venture into the area and experiences while climbing with and filming these amazing women.
Shimshal is a fairly remote place to opt to make a documentary on climbers and Saiyid discovered these unique women quite by accident. On a 2008 trek to Lupke La, a high-altitude pass in the area, her group passed by Shimshal village. On the road, they were lucky enough to meet none other than Rajab Shah, the first Pakistani to summit all five 8,000 meter peaks in the country. This chance meeting inspired her to return the next year to do a documentary highlighting the achievements of climbers and high-altitude porters from the area. But, while carrying out the required interviews and research the next year, Saiyid discovered a whole new side to the talented climbers of Shimshal. Some local guides that she had kept in touch with from trips with her undergraduate adventure society informed her about the Shimshal Mountaineering School. Some of the female students had recently accomplished the amazing feat of climbing Mangling Sar (6,050m) in the winter. “At that point, I realised I should shift the focus of the documentary to the women!” she says.
Fascinated, she sought out a couple of the climbers and carried out some short interviews with them. The project was delayed due to her leaving for her Master’s education and then working for a year with Coke Studio but the promising project called her back to the north in 2012. That summer she went on two treks, once in June to acclimatise and then in August to film her documentary and climb with the eight-member team of promising young women. Together, they managed to summit three 6,000m peaks consecutively in six days.
When speaking about the team Saiyid has incredibly fond memories. “Firstly they are so cheerful! They love to sing and dance. As soon as we reached Shimshal Pass they went into dance mode. There was a lot of singing, clapping and dancing. This happened in a lot of campsites we reached. We would just have an impromptu party in the middle of nowhere!” Another thing that struck her was how much energy they always had. They love to play cricket even after the strenuous climbs that they do. After the first mountain that they climbed, they came back to base camp and by evening a cricket match was underway. It didn’t even matter that the proper sporting equipment wasn’t readily available. The industrious, fun-loving ladies simply would tie some sticks together and fashion a ball out of simple materials like rope wrapped around a stone. “All the porters, men, and women would all play cricket together. And we did this everywhere. Anywhere there was enough flat space a match would take place!” she jokes. Another thing she remembers well is that the “mehman-nawazi (hospitality) never stopped” Shimshalis are renowned for taking unwavering care of their guests. “There was constant help, even when I didn’t want it! They would go out of their way in making things easier for me. Even though I would say ‘hey I got this, I can do it on my own’, they would still try to assist me. Whether we were in the village or a campsite, their care was consistent.”
However, making this beautiful documentary was not all fun and games. For it to be visually appealing, she had to climb with them while carrying weighty filming equipment. Acclimatising was also an issue as she is originally from Karachi and the altitude can be difficult to manage while carrying out the necessary work required for filming. She also wanted to make sure that everything was shot naturally so she tasked herself with not asking for any reshoots. This required her to maintain as much speed as she could on the difficult terrain. The Shimshal area is notorious for its Scree slopes – small rock fragments forming large areas of the trails. Saiyid claims she was fortunate, though, and even with a few slips along the way she did not sustain more than minor injuries to her knees. She did, however, get extremely lucky: coming very close to developing frostbite at the tip of her finger due to a wet glove. This was remedied, however, by the ever loving team giving her hot water with salt every night in camp.
Saiyid plans another climb this summer to follow up the adventures in the north with her beloved team. A second series of climbing with these women will hopefully be available in the coming year.
The documentary was screened at the Pakistan International Film Festival to rave reviews in April this year.
Shimshal is a fairly remote place to opt to make a documentary on climbers and Saiyid discovered these unique women quite by accident. On a 2008 trek to Lupke La, a high-altitude pass in the area, her group passed by Shimshal village. On the road, they were lucky enough to meet none other than Rajab Shah, the first Pakistani to summit all five 8,000 meter peaks in the country. This chance meeting inspired her to return the next year to do a documentary highlighting the achievements of climbers and high-altitude porters from the area. But, while carrying out the required interviews and research the next year, Saiyid discovered a whole new side to the talented climbers of Shimshal. Some local guides that she had kept in touch with from trips with her undergraduate adventure society informed her about the Shimshal Mountaineering School. Some of the female students had recently accomplished the amazing feat of climbing Mangling Sar (6,050m) in the winter. “At that point, I realised I should shift the focus of the documentary to the women!” she says.
Fascinated, she sought out a couple of the climbers and carried out some short interviews with them. The project was delayed due to her leaving for her Master’s education and then working for a year with Coke Studio but the promising project called her back to the north in 2012. That summer she went on two treks, once in June to acclimatise and then in August to film her documentary and climb with the eight-member team of promising young women. Together, they managed to summit three 6,000m peaks consecutively in six days.
When speaking about the team Saiyid has incredibly fond memories. “Firstly they are so cheerful! They love to sing and dance. As soon as we reached Shimshal Pass they went into dance mode. There was a lot of singing, clapping and dancing. This happened in a lot of campsites we reached. We would just have an impromptu party in the middle of nowhere!” Another thing that struck her was how much energy they always had. They love to play cricket even after the strenuous climbs that they do. After the first mountain that they climbed, they came back to base camp and by evening a cricket match was underway. It didn’t even matter that the proper sporting equipment wasn’t readily available. The industrious, fun-loving ladies simply would tie some sticks together and fashion a ball out of simple materials like rope wrapped around a stone. “All the porters, men, and women would all play cricket together. And we did this everywhere. Anywhere there was enough flat space a match would take place!” she jokes. Another thing she remembers well is that the “mehman-nawazi (hospitality) never stopped” Shimshalis are renowned for taking unwavering care of their guests. “There was constant help, even when I didn’t want it! They would go out of their way in making things easier for me. Even though I would say ‘hey I got this, I can do it on my own’, they would still try to assist me. Whether we were in the village or a campsite, their care was consistent.”
That summer Saiyid went on two treks, once in June to acclimatise and then in August to film her documentary and climb with the eight-member team of promising young women. Together, they managed to summit three 6,000m peaks consecutively in six days
However, making this beautiful documentary was not all fun and games. For it to be visually appealing, she had to climb with them while carrying weighty filming equipment. Acclimatising was also an issue as she is originally from Karachi and the altitude can be difficult to manage while carrying out the necessary work required for filming. She also wanted to make sure that everything was shot naturally so she tasked herself with not asking for any reshoots. This required her to maintain as much speed as she could on the difficult terrain. The Shimshal area is notorious for its Scree slopes – small rock fragments forming large areas of the trails. Saiyid claims she was fortunate, though, and even with a few slips along the way she did not sustain more than minor injuries to her knees. She did, however, get extremely lucky: coming very close to developing frostbite at the tip of her finger due to a wet glove. This was remedied, however, by the ever loving team giving her hot water with salt every night in camp.
Saiyid plans another climb this summer to follow up the adventures in the north with her beloved team. A second series of climbing with these women will hopefully be available in the coming year.
The documentary was screened at the Pakistan International Film Festival to rave reviews in April this year.