Bridging The Gulf

Outdoors lovers strive to show the world a different view of the Middle East, defying a sometimes hostile climate, and internal and external stereotypes.

- Steve White

The first Saudi woman to climb Everest, Moharrek says she grew up always testing boundaries. That started with pushing her family to expand their idea of what it was to be a Saudi female.

She describes: “Climbing trees in the backyard, jumping off piers in the night . . . chipping away at my parents’ mentality.”

While holidaying overseas with her family, she was given leeway to be the tomboy, to try it all: “Scuba diving, shark diving, sky diving – the best way to get me to do something is to say I can’t do it,” she says.

Then the rules abruptly changed.

“All that was ok up to the point when I became a woman.”

Then the pressure to conform, to act a certain way, became all pervading. That began with attitudes at home and so she challenged those attitudes. Mountaineering became her chosen vehicle and she set about climbing the Seven Summits (the original, Dick Bass version with Kosciusko). That culminated, in 2013, in her summitting Everest as part of the Arabs With Attitude team that also included the first Qatari man and first Palestinian man to attempt the mountain.

“After climbing Everest, my proudest moment will forever be landing back in Saudi and the airport doors opened and there was my dad’s face. He was so proud!” she says.

It was a huge moment. “He is such a great example of a typical Saudi male,” she says, but at that moment he was, “able to accept diversity.”

Still Moharrek faces opposition, especially on social media, but she is well past letting that slow her down. She is also keen to lose the distinction of being the only Saudi woman to climb Everest (or indeed most of the other major peaks she has scaled). She has been widely quoted as saying, she said: "I really don't care about being the first, so long as it inspires someone else to be second.”