In May 2022, Akke Rahman became the first British Muslim to summit Mount Everest. His single-rotation climb is made all the more impressive by the fact that he spent the majority of his 21-day expedition fasting for Ramadan.
What inspired him to take on such a challenge? And what gave him the belief that he could do it? The latest short film for our #EverydayLifeOutdoors campaign sees Akke talk candidly about his incredible journey and shows behind-the-scenes footage of his expedition to the world’s highest summit.
Akke's Early Life
“I was born in Bangladesh, in a town called Sylhet” Akke recalls, as he discusses his upbringing. He wasn’t there long. In fact, before his second birthday, Akke joined his father in the UK when he moved to Oldham, Greater Manchester. He had a settled upbringing and quickly began to show his natural athleticism as he grew up, becoming a champion triple jumper and picking up medals for sprinting by the age of 14.
The climbing bug has been inside me from a young age. I used to wait up for programmes to come on about Everest.
It wasn’t until 2019 that Akke got his first taste of the high life when he and a friend finally completed a long-talked-about climb up Snowdon (1,085m). “Every year we used to talk about it, get really excited and then forget about it. He called me up and said if we don’t bloody go, we’re never going to go”. Akke was hooked and quickly began researching his next climbs.
Building up to Everest
Akke began to scale up his climbing aspirations. He wanted to go higher, and fast. He set about summiting Europe’s highest mountain, Elbrus in Russia (5,642m). Sadly mother nature put a stop to that and he was forced to abandon the climb halfway up due to storms.
“I came home distraught” he admits, but clearly determined. His unsuccessful trip had still raised enough money to build ten water wells in Bangladesh. Buoyed by the impact he was able to have on those in need, he launched a new fundraising campaign and summited Kilimanjaro (5,895m) and Mont Blanc (4,809m). He climbed the two mountains on two different continents in 7 days.
“When I returned I noticed Russia had opened its borders”. This was as the world was beginning to recover from the global pandemic. Akke scrambled to try and find a way to climb Elbrus before his Visa expired, but it was going to be tight. “I landed in Russia and by the third day of being there I’d have to be out of the country by midnight”. Miraculously, Akke managed to persuade his reluctant guide to attempt to summit the mountain in a day. “I said to him ‘Look, Dennis, calm down. We’ll try it in a day and if not we have these other days to fall back on”. The pair summited Elbrus in less than 24 hours, making Akke’s climb the fastest British expedition without acclimatisation on Europe’s largest mountain.
On the back of his success at Elbrus, Akke travelled to Nepal to climb Ama Dablam (6,812 m) as his final warm-up for Everest. It was here where he would learn the most important lesson of his mountaineering life. “I tried to climb it in half the time, high off a one-day Elbrus climb the previous year. I continued to climb on a stomach bug when I was told not to but then eventually had to get rescued from about 5000 meters”. Akke spent 5 days in the hospital and broke every rule in the book when he returned to the mountain against the doctor's advice. “I was half the strength I was but I managed to get to 6500m before my guide called it a day”. He admits he should have listened to his body, but the will to get to 6,500m spurred him on to tackle Everest six months later.
Trekking to base camp while fasting
“When I arrived in Lukla, the gateway to Everest, it took 8 days to trek to Base Camp”. Akke was covering long distances without food or hydration as he made the journey through the various villages on the way to Everest. “My throat was so dry, it felt like you could light a match on it. Six months prior I had walked to Namche in a day. This time it took me three days because I was fasting”.
When he got to Base Camp (5,515m) he had to wait for four days to let his body acclimatise to the 50% oxygen levels in the air. “it’s not all fast-action climbing. It gets a little bit boring at times” he admits. But after several visits to crampon point and the glaciers, it was time for Akke to begin his first and only rotation.
“I wanted to spend the first part of Ramadan with my family so I arrived later than the group and asked if I could summit later”. The company who Akke had planned the trip with agreed to it, but the sherpas said told him it would be better for him to go up with the rest of the group. That gave him one shot at the summit with just a single rotation.
Falling into a crevasse
As Akke was descending from Camp One to Base Camp before his final summit push, he was dealt a harsh reminder of how perilous Everest can be. “My right foot landed on the bank, and my left foot went straight down. I must have fallen about five to ten feet ”. Thankfully Akke was on a safety line and was rescued 40 minutes later when a group of climbers passed by and assisted in pulling him out.
But the ordeal had a lasting effect on Akke and sent him into a spiral of depressive thoughts, which were made worse by homesickness. “I stayed in my tent for two days. I was literally in tears” he recalls. With support from Purba, his sherpa, and a phone call home on Eid day to his family, Akke rallied and returned to his positive self. By now he was rested and ready to head for the summit.
Reaching the summit
Akke ascended to Camp Three with his guides and was preparing to make a push for the summit. This involved going through the ‘Death Zone’ (8,000+ metres) where the human body can’t survive without additional oxygen, so it was important Akke was fuelled and ready to don the oxygen mask and climb to Camp Four.
His guides recommended he ate some noodles but he “took one whiff and immediately felt sick”. In fear of making himself feel worse, his last resort was to eat the small amount of food he had left in his pack and try to sustain himself until the summit. “From 7,000 metres onwards and through the Death Zone for three days, I was on two Snickers bars a day”.
Incredibly, he made it. On a single rotation, having fasted all the way to Base Camp and powered by chocolate during his final summit push, Akke reached the pinnacle of mountaineering.
I made a prayer saying thank you for bringing me to the summit God. Just take me back down safely.
“I remember almost breaking down and my guide, who was tough as nails, said listen mate let’s go and take some pictures and go. You can cry later”. It was the moment Akke had dreamed about since he was a boy. He spent 25 minutes taking it all in before they began the treacherous descent back down to Base Camp.
Akke’s Everest campaign helped to raise over £240,000 for humanitarian charities around the globe. It’s difficult to comprehend the scale of his impact on the lives of those who benefitted from his heroic climb. In 2023, Akke’s focus remains fixed on climbing the world’s highest peaks and raising money to help those in need. His lifetime goal is to climb all mountains above 8,000 metres including the Seven Summits (the largest mountain in all of the world’s seven continents).
Join us in following Akke on his incredible mountaineering journey on his Instagram page.
