KABUL, Afghanistan—At 2:30 p.m. on July 19, 2009, the first Afghans to climb their country’s highest mountain unfurled a national flag on the icy peak in the blue above the clouds.
They aimed to deliver a message one doesn’t hear much, that Afghans can succeed. To say, according to a new film about the adventure, that there is more to Afghanistan than the Taliban, opium and burqas, the head-to-toe garments worn by some Muslim women.
-snip- It was the message that Louis Meunier, a 32-year-old trekker from Paris who crossed Afghanistan on horseback in 2005, had hoped to generate during the several years he spent preparing the three-week expedition and then producing the documentary from 50 hours of footage. The total cost was 90,000 euros ($122,000). Meunier didn’t make it to the summit because of acute bronchitis.
-snip- Trouble began long before the climb when Meunier and two French associates fell out with the French head of an adventure sports company who had promised financing. Later, Meunier got support from the French Embassy and the Aga Khan Foundation.
via http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_19075433.
http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/how-afghan-climbers-reached-their-highest-peak-1903554.html
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20111009/afghanistan-mountain-expedition-film-111009/
Ismailimail 