Emirati woman aims for the roof of the world
With her goal being to scale Mt Everest, a local adventurer is getting ready by first climbing South America’s tallest peak
Emirati mother of two Dana Al Ali training in Chamonix, France, for her attempt to conquer Mount Everest in the spring.
ABU DHABI // If Emirati adventurer Dana Al Ali has learnt anything from her quests it is that no dream is too big.
“If you have a goal, go for it,” said the 32-year-old government worker.
The mother-of-two is now preparing for her next mission – to scale Argentina’s Mt Aconcagua, South America’s highest peak at 6,962 metres – next month.
In April, Al Ali faces her ultimate challenge – Everest.
“It is the highest in the world, that was the thing that got me,” she said. “I watched every film and documentary and fell in love with the Himalayas.”
Her attempt to climb Mt Aconcagua will take her two weeks. For her, the main challenge will be being away from her husband and children.
“Work has been very supportive. With family, I honestly don’t know how I’m going to leave them.”
The longest Al Ali has been away from her son Hamdsan, 9, and daughter Elyazia, 7, was when she undertook a 10-day trek to the Everest Base Camp earlier this year. “Missing my family too much is my biggest worry, or not being able to continue. There is always a chance the weather will get so bad, an avalanche or an earthquake – a natural disaster that many not allow me to summit.”
In terms of physical fitness, she has been training in an altitude chamber in Dubai, which has the same oxygen level as that of high altitudes, starting at 2,300m and working her way up.
“So I put my backpack on and I wear my boots. I walk on a treadmill at an incline, the whole room is operated by the system that they have.”
She also went to Chamonix in the French Alps for the second time in July to improve her technical skills with ropes and other climbing equipment.
“This was when I said ‘2017 will be the year I do Everest’,” she said.
Her mountaineering journey began when she climbed the 5,895m Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2013.
“After Kilimanjaro I had this crazy idea that I wanted to climb Everest, so started researching it. The thing that shocked me was that it will take two months.”
Al Ali started enquiring what she had to do to get there, and the answer was that she had to get more mountaineering experience elsewhere. “I said: ‘No I want to do Everest’.”
She listened to the experts and decided to take a “step backward” and experience other mountains to prepare. In 2014, she undertook some training in Chamonix. Last year, she climbed Mt Elbrus in Russia, Europe’s highest peak at 5,642m.
“After that I couldn’t set a goal. I would have loved to do Everest within a year but it was really difficult.”
Her trip to the Everest Base Camp, she said, gave her “a feeling of what Nepal is like and the Himalayas”.
Al Ali said one of her favourite parts of mountaineering is meeting people from around the world.
“It was the first time I travelled by myself. I get to meet new people, everybody has a story to share.”
She also gets to experience new cultures and countries. When she climbed Kilimanjaro it was her first time in Africa.
“I got to see the cities that I have been through. Similarly, in Elbrus I tried all this food.”
There are, however, always difficult challenges on her missions. “There are those moments when you get really tired walking for six or seven hours. It gets too cold. You start questioning yourself.”
Reaching a summit, however, makes it all worthwhile, she said.