Pride of UAE: Emirati scales Europe and Russia’s highest summit

A young Emirati has scaled the highest summit in Europe and Russia, raising the flag of his beloved country in a demonstration of national pride at the top of the peak.

Yasir Albehzad, who works for UAE telecom firm du, scaled Mount Elbrus as part of his goal to climb the seven summits of each continent. It was Yasir’s personal dream come true and considers it a great success towards achieving his goal of mountaineering seven summits.

Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in Europe, and the tenth most prominent peak in the world. A dormant volcano, Elbrus forms part of the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia, near the border with Georgia. Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes. With its slightly taller west summit, the mountain stands at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft); the east summit is 5,621 metres (18,442 ft), says Wikipedia.

Last month, Suzanne Al Houby, a Palestinian-born and UAE-based mother of two, became the first Arab woman to conquer the daunting seven summits of the world. She achieved the feat by reaching the summit of Denali, which is the highest mountain peak in North America, at an elevation of 6190 metres ((20,310 feet) above sea level.

Also Read: UAE climber creates history: First Arab woman to scale 7 summits

In May 2016, the UAE Armed Forces team returned home to hero’s welcome after scaling the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. The 16-strong group, which included physios and descent specialists, reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 19, where they raised the UAE flag in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the unification of the country’s Armed Forces.

Also Read: UAE Armed Forces team returns home after scaling Mount Everest

Sending a message during his descent from a climb riddled with massive storms, Yasir Albehzad shared an inspirational thought, “Life requires a lot of planning, adaptation, risks, operations and commitments. The workplace is the same and mountains are a great example of these points, but harder physically and mentally. Summiting mountains gives me a great energy to understand problems, plan, face challenges and fix them. This is what I have learnt from the mountains that have helped me throughout my career.”

He said: “When we commit to such expeditions, all the weight we carry is calculated – safety and mountaineering gear was filling the bag, but my favourite piece in the bag was my UAE flag, and I proudly carried it all the way to the peak, it keeps me going.”

Ibrahim Nassir, Chief Human Capital and Administration Officer, du, said the company nurturing its employees and inspiring them to achieve personal goals in tandem with career ones.

“I can say with pride that everyone was behind Yasir every step of the way, and we were honoured to have been represented at the summit of one of the world’s highest peaks,” said Ibrahim.

“Our aim is to inspire our employees to be the best that they can be. High employee engagement leads to a dedicated workforce, which in turn leads to better customer service levels, and better business acuity.”

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.