Following our interview with Hanifa Yousoufi - the first Afghan woman to summit Noshaq, Afghanistan's highest mountain - tonight's Friday Night Video documents the journey of a group of Afghan women who aim to make history as the first women in their country to summit Mir Samir, led and supported by US non-profit Ascend: Leadership Through Athletics.
In 2015, the team embarked on a 17-day expedition against the advice of their elders in an attempt to change perceptions of Afghan women, taking in three of the region's highest peaks, all over 4,876m. They named one unclimbed mountain 'The Lion Daughters of Mir Samir Peak.' 'Ascending Afghanistan' received a Special Jury Mention at Banff Mountain Film Festival and won the Best Culture film award at Kendal Mountain Festival.
Watch the trailer for an upcoming film documenting Hanifa's ascent of Noshaq earlier this year:
An Uphill Battle Trailer Teaser 2018 from Erin Trieb on Vimeo.
Comments
Good and well made video. Good to see climbing mixed up with politics. Great attitude of: f*ck you all, we're going climbing. Incredibly courageous women. I thought magnitude was well summed up by the comment:
"the society at large feels threatened by what these girls are doing".
Gotta say I was a bit shocked when Mt Samir finally came into the picture. Very impressive peak and yeah a rather over-ambitious goal given their complete lack of climbing skills.
I wonder what impact it will have had and if the fact the video is online will threaten their safety.
There's a good deal of this gender stuff appearing on the site lately I've been quite uncomfortable with, I genuinely don't feel the need to bring this toxic material into a sport thats generally comfortable with the roles of men, women and race. This however is a much different story when you see these women fighting a dark age of womens rights. Great to see these women fighting for real equality. One of the best vids we've had on here and good for them!
If the "gender stuff" is making you uncomfortable then you're probably part of the male-dominated power structure it's designed to challenge. The Taliban views on women may seem foreign, but women are being abused, objectified, paid less, and disrespected every day in our countries as well (says the guy whose Prez copped to grabbing them by the p@$$^).
It's time for a change. UKC, keep it coming!
UKC, thanks so much for posting this incredible film. I was genuinely surprised to see such a serious & political film here and it is absolutely needed and appreciated. What an incredible piece of human endeavour.
Funny, my wife agreeds with me.