Nasuh Mahruki
Ali Nasuh Mahruki (born May 21, 1968) is a professional mountain climber, writer, photographer and documentary film producer. An all-round outdoor sportsman, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and was the first ever Turkish person to climb the Seven Summits.
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| Personal information | |
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| Main discipline | Mountaineering |
| Other disciplines | Outdoor sports, writer, photographer, documentary film producer, SAR |
| Born | May 21, 1968 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Career | |
| Starting age | 23 |
| Notable ascents | Mount Everest (8,848 m),, Khan Tengri (7,010 m), Lenin Peak (7,134 m), Peak Korzhenevskaya (7,105 m), Communism Peak (7,495 m), Peak Pobeda (7,439 m), Aconcagua (6,959 m), Vinson Massif (4,897 m), Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), McKinley (6,194 m), Elbrus (5,642 m), Kosciuszko (2,228 m), Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Lhotse (8,516 m), K2 (8,611 m) |
Ali Nasuh Mahruki was born in Istanbul. He has completed his primary school and high school education in Şişli Terakki Lisesi. He has graduated Bilkent University Management Faculty in 1992. In 2004 he has graduated National Security Academy. He is a professional mountain climber, writer, photographer and motivational speaker. As a professional sportsman, he has excelled in various outdoor sports such as mountaineering, climbing, caving, paragliding, scuba diving, motor sports, sailing and cycling.
He has started mountaineering when he was 20 and high altitude climbing at 24. When he was 26, after completing the ascents of five 7,000 meter peaks in Pamir and Tien Shan mountains, he became one of the few western climbers who are given the prestigious Snow Leopard title by the Russian Mountaineering Federation. It is not yet repeated by another Turkish climber. At the age of 27, he became the first Turkish and the first Muslim climber in the world who has climbed Mount Everest. When he was 28, he completed the Seven Summits project, which is climbing the highest peaks of each continent and among 45 climbers, he became the youngest climber in the world to do so. He made the highest solo ascent of Turkey on 8201 m high Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world. He climbed 8516 m high Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world. He climbed 8611 m K2, the second highest and according to many, the most difficult and dangerous mountain of the world. This ascent is not yet repeated by Turkish climbers also. All these 8,000 m climbs were first Turkish ascents and last three were without supplementary oxygen.
He has made long overland motorbike tours in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet and some of Europe.
He is making motivational speeches on subjects like leadership, team building, target orientation, perseverance, risk management, and self-actualization. He has also taught on these subjects at a university. He has written articles on various magazines and newspapers and also made documentaries on various TV channels.
He is the co-founder of AKUT Search and Rescue Association. AKUT is a volunteer-based search and rescue team. Nasuh Mahruki has founded AKUT in 1996 with a group of his mountain climber friends. It became the only NGO organized around search and rescue, before the big Marmara earthquake that hit Golcuk and killed approximately 18,000 people on August 17, 1999. AKUT volunteers rescued 220 people under the collapsed structures. They were so effective and helpful for the victims during those very difficult days, the Turkish people chose AKUT as the most trusted entity of Turkey. Today there are more than 20 AKUT units and more than 1,000 volunteers all over Turkey, and until today 852 people have been rescued or moved to safe environments by AKUT. Nasuh Mahruki resigned from his duty as the chairman of the board on November 30, 2016 as a result of strong pressure from the Turkish government, after his speech on TV against the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Nasuh Mahruki is also the co-founder of Common Purpose Association of Turkey and he is a member of UGSAD (National Security and Strategic Research Association), TMOK (National Olympic Commity of Turkey), SAD (Underwater Research Association) and Travellers Club of Turkey.
His books published in Turkish are; “Diary of an Alpinist”, “First Turk on Everest”, “In Search of a Dream”, “Roads of Asia, Himalayas, and Beyond”; “Earth Diary”; “Motherland is Loved by Actions not by Empty Words”.
Early life
He was born on May 21, 1968 in Istanbul, Turkey. He is in fifth generation descendant of Admiral Ali Pasha, commander of the Ottoman navy during Sultan Mahmud II. Ali Pasha was burned to death in his admiral ship during an attack after successfully controlling the uprising of the ethnic islanders against Ottoman Empire on the Aegean island Chios on March 23, 1822. Thus Nasuh’s family name Mahruki, which means, "burnt" in Ottoman Turkish.
After finishing high school at Şişli Terakki High School in Istanbul in 1987, Mahruki attended the School of Business Administration at Bilkent University in Ankara, and graduated in 1992. During his time at the university, he was introduced to mountain climbing in the university climbing club and later became club president. At the age of 20, he developed a passion for various outdoor sports. He made the first paragliding flight over Mount Erciyes, climbed up the Great Demirkazık mountain's north wall, and dove into the underground waters of the Altınbeşik and Kırkgözler Caves.
Mountaineering career
Between 1992 and 1994, Mahruki climbed the five highest former Soviet mountains in Asia (Khan Tengri, Lenin Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya, Communism Peak and Peak Pobeda), which are all over 7,000 metres high. This achievement gained him the honorific title "Snow Leopard", awarded by the Russian Climbing Federation. This recognition led him to his high altitude mountaineering career.
Mahruki summited Mount Everest (8,848 m.) on May 15, 1995, being the first ever Turkish and Muslim person to do so. In 1996, he completed the climbing of Seven Summits in seven continents (Everest, Aconcagua, Vinson Massif, Kilimanjaro, McKinley, Elbrus and Kosciuszko), being the youngest person to do so.
In 1997, he climbed Cho Oyu (8,201 m) solo, setting a Turkish record. He next ascended Lhotse (8,516 m) without an oxygen tank in 1998 and climbed the very dangerous and difficult K2 (8,611 m).
Nasuh travels a lot collecting data for his books and documentaries. He is the president of AKUT, a voluntary search-and-rescue organization based in Istanbul he co-founded in 1996. AKUT rushes to outdoor accidents and major natural disasters all over the world, like the 1999 earthquake in Turkey, Nantou - Tayvan earthquake, Gujarat - India earthquake, Bam - Iran earthquake, Mozambique flood, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
Mahruki published four books and many articles about his outdoor challenges and travels all around the world. Among his other outdoor activities are climbing, scuba diving, paragliding, sailing, caving, off-roading, motorbike and cycling.
Accomplishments
- Little Demirkazık (3,425 m) West face climb Niğde, Turkey July 1991
- Five climbs on Terskey Ala Too mountains: Uglawaya (3,900 m), Peak Studentin (4,202 m), Brigandina-Albatros traverse (4,800-4,740 m), Cigid (5,170 m), Kazakhstan, July 1991
- First Turkish ascent of Khan Tengri (7,010 m), Kyrgyzstan, August 1992
- Great Demirkazık North Face climb (3,756 m), Niğde Turkey, September 1992
- Winter ascent of Mount Elbrus (5,621 m), Caucasus, February 1993
- Lenin Peak (7,134 m), Kyrgyzstan, July 1993
- First Turkish ascent of Vaja Psavela (6,912 m), Kyrgyzstan, August 1993
- First Turkish ascent of Peak of Four (6,299 m), Kyrgyzstan, July 1994
- First Turkish ascent of Peak Korzhenevskaya (7,105 m), Tajikistan, July 1994
- Peak Communism (7,495 m), Tajikistan, July 1994
- Solo and first Turkish ascent of Peak Pobeda (7,439 m), Kyrgyzstan, August 1994
- First Turkish winter ascent of Mount Damavand (5,610 m), Iran December 1994
- Mount Erciyes (3,916 m), North icefall winter ascent, Kayseri, February 1995
- Completed the "Seven Summits" project of climbing the highest peaks of each of the continents, November 1996. The mountains are:
- Mt. Everest (8,848 m), Tibet, Asia, May 17, 1995. First Turkish ascent
- Aconcagua (6,959 m), Argentina, South America, November 1995. First Turkish ascent
- Vinson Massif (4,897 m), Antarctica, December 1995. First Turkish ascent
- McKinley (6,194 m), Alaska, North America, January 1996 First Turkish ascent
- Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), Tanzania, Africa, August 1996
- Elbrus (5,642 m) Caucasus, Europe, August 1996
- Cosciusko (2,228 m) Australia, November 1996
- Great Demirkazık (3,756 m), Peck route first winter ascent, Niğde, Turkey, December 1996.
- Güzeller (3,461 m), North face first winter ascent, Niğde, Turkey, February 1997.
- Solo ascent of Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Tibet, 6th highest mountain of the world. The highest solo ascent of Turkey. September 1997, without oxygen. First Turkish ascent
- Lhotse (8,516 m), 4th highest mountain of the world. West face, Nepal, May 1998, The highest oxygenless ascent of Turkey. First Turkish ascent
- Attempted Manaslu (8,163 m), Nepal October 1998.
- Mount Damavand (5,610 m), Iran January 2000
- Winter ascent of Mount Ararat (Ağrı Dağı) (5,137 m), Turkey February 2000
- First Turkish ascent of extremely dangerous and difficult K2 (8,611 m), Pakistan July 2000. 2nd highest mountain of the world, The highest oxygenless ascent by a Turkish national.
- Muztagh Ata (7,546 m), China August 2001. First Turkish ascent. Highest ski-ascent of Turkey.
Books
- Diary of an Alpinist (Yapi Kredi Press, 1995)
- First Turk on Everest (Yapi Kredi Press, 1995)
- In Search of a Dream (Yapi Kredi Press, 1996)
- Roads of Asia, Himalayas, and Beyond (Yapi Kredi Press, 1999)
- Earth Diary (KAPITAL Press, 2002)
- Motherland is only to be loved by actions, not by empty words (GUNCEL YAYINCILIK, 2007)
Awards
- "Best Climber of Turkey" and was nominated as a candidate for the "Best Sportsman of Turkey", 1992 and 1994. (No elections in 1993)
- "Snow Leopard" by the Russian Mountaineering Federation after completing the ascents of 5 seven thousand meter peaks of the CIS, August 1994. At that time there were overall 214 climbers who were awarded with that title of which 3 were Western climbers.[1]
- Ashoka Fellow with Ashoka Turkey since 2004 [2]
References
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