Afghan Peaks was the lead sponsor for the 11th edition of the Afghan Ski Challenge 2021 held in Bamiyan and was the only sponsor of a small race in 2022. Since then, we have been increasing our programming year by year. First we added a program to hire local carpenters to make wooden skis to be distributed to kids. Next we restarted the ski school. One of our Major goals is to support the construction of a ski lift to support skiing in Afghanistan. We have T-Shirts for sale. Please Click here to order one.
Afghan Peaks was the sponsor of the first female ascent of Shah Fuladi Mountain in Bamiyan in 2021. Bamiyan natives Tamana Jahan from Balkh and Nazima Khairzad became the first Afghan women to summit the 5140 meter peak, the highest mountain in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. They were part of an 8-person team of Afghan climbers from the Badakhshan, Balkh, Bamiyan, Ghazni and Kandahar provinces. The team was led by Sayed Ali Shah. We are honored to have served as the main sponsor for this historic climb!
Afghan Peaks is supporting the Bamiyan Alpine Ski Club. Please Click here to read more.
Avalanches kill and injure hundreds of people a year in Afghanistan. Afghan Peaks is committed to reducing these harms by providing avalanche safety training and support. We have already made progress. In 2018 Afghan Peaks Charity funded a software license for the avalanche unit of the Afghan Ministry of Public Works to support a weather station in the Salang Area. Later that year Afghan Peaks funded an in-person avalanche training course in Kabul.
Afghan Peaks intends to launch initiatives to preserve the ecosystems in Afghanistan's mountains, beginning with the Bamiyan province. We will launch initiatives after further planning and fundraising.
Afghan Peaks is a 501c3 organization committed to benefiting Afghans by developing their mountain skills and preserving the natural environment for generations to come.
Afghanistan's close neighbors include India and China, each with more than 1 billion people. In that context, and with no ocean port, Afghanistan’s ability to compete through industrial scale is limited. However, as a country possessing natural beauty in its mountains, Afghanistan can fill a regional and global niche in adventure travel.
Once Afghanistan achieves peace, it can open itself up to international tourism. To do this, it will need to take advantage of a key offering - pristine mountains. However, to compete it will need infrastructure and human capital fit for purpose. This means that we need to train Afghans in the skill sets needed to run a climbing and skiing tourism economy while making sure nature is preserved.
Economies are also driven by goods and services that citizens can enjoy domestically. If Afghan's can get more enjoyment out of their surrounding mountains then a local ski hill can create jobs in an intra-Afghan economy.
Also, whether tourism is developed or not, Afghan's deserve to have the knowledge to protect their communities from avalanche danger. This skill set can save lives whether or not tourism objectives are achieved.
During the mass migration of Afghans abroad in 2021 and 2022 Afghan Peaks led the Afghans Rising initiative to assist arriving immigrants get set up in their new country.
We hope you can help us to develop this niche in Afghanistan's development.
Founder
Samuel Dean Sidiqi
