Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Mostly Sport climbing 87 routes in region Emerging

Islamabad has a vibrant climbing scene made up of members of the local climbing community interspersed with members of the expatriate diplomatic community. The history of climbing in Islamabad is both uplifting and tinged with sadness. Whilst climbers have frequented the cliffs around Islamabad for decades the current sport climbing scene really took off in 2010 when visiting UK climber John Arran teamed up with the local climbing elite who had been honing their skills at the recently opened Ibex climbing centre. John established a number of classic climbs in the Margallah Hills including Puzzled Monkey (6c+) and Action Direction (7b+), both at Jungle Rocks. John was instrumental in establishing a broad range of climbs for local and expatriate climbers alike to enjoy and develop their skills. Sadly shortly after Johns departure, two of his proteges and pillars of the local climbing scene; Imran Junaidi and Usman Tariq went missing along with Kuram Shehzad on Sarwali Mountain in Kashmir. In 2015, Japanese climber Junya Matsuura took up where John left off, continuing the development of a number of new areas in the Margallah Hills, including the very steep Saffa Wall and the excellent Mastadon. Like John, Junya, a solid 8a climber, put many hours into mentoring the local climbing community and established many climbs in the 6a range as well as a number of harder classics such as the stunning Retribution (7b+) at Mastadon. Tragically Junya fell ill and died whilst returning from a climbing trip in early 2018. He will be remembered with great fondness by the Islamabad climbing community as a talented, kind and humble man. For a recent history of rock climbing in Islamabad read John Arran's 2011 article 'Islamabad Cragging' which can be found on the UK Climbing website; www.ukclimbing.com.