Lucky for the Mazamas, Sohaib felt like he was missing out on big mountain adventures and moved to Portland from Atlanta in 2019. His trajectory in the Mazamas organization matches his enthusiasm, taking part in our Basic Climbing Education Program in 2021, followed by Intermediate Climbing School in 2022. He’s now in our Leadership Development program, rapidly moving up the ranks and inspiring others to love and protect the mountains.
Name: Sohaib Haider
Pronouns: He/Him
Year Joined Mazamas: 2021
Present-day outdoor activities: Mountaineering, hiking, on- and off-trail running
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Falling asleep watching the stars in the backyard of my home in Sargodha, Pakistan during summer nights. It is (or was) common to sleep in the backyards or rooftops during hot and humid summer nights in the South Asian subcontinent.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? Here’s my story. You decide if it was a complete coincidence or if it was destiny. Some of my friends from grad school in Atlanta moved to Seattle and they were skiing and mountaineering a lot. I felt I was missing out on the action, so I moved to Portland in October 2019 for a new job and to have better access to the beautiful mountains of the PNW. I wanted to summit Tahoma/Mt. Rainier and Wy’east/Mt. Hood with guided groups like my friends did, but just as I was settling into Portland, the pandemic happened and there weren’t any guided climbs anymore.
I was hiking a lot in the spring/summer of 2020 and went to hike the Elk-Kings Trail. The All Trails app said the Mazamas have adopted this trail. I was like, ‘what on earth are the Mazamas?’ So I googled the Mazamas. I realized I can get climbing education with the Mazamas and summit Mt Hood with them, so I applied to the Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) in 2021. I got on a Wy’east/Mt Hood as my first climb after BCEP, which was phenomenal experience. The rest is history, and I have been more involved with the Mazamas ever since and just led my first Mazamas climb as a provisional climb leader.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? I am a big advocate of wilderness first aid and accident management training. Accidents happen all the time under perfect conditions. I have witnessed three accidents in my two years of climbing. Please be prepared with the knowledge and tools for accident management and for rescue scenarios. I highly recommend a Wilderness First Aid course with the Mazamas or similar courses with other organizations.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Kind and patient climbers, who climb hard and pay it forward and educate others inspire me. People who are working against climate change are my heroes. In climbing, I am inspired by big snowy mountains and solitary off-the-beaten path alpine routes.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I have enjoyed many documentaries and books in the past two years, but I have followed and enjoyed Mazama Bulletin and Patagonia publications most consistently. I like the Mazama bBulletin because it’s the news of my community, and I especially enjoy reading articles and posts from friends. Articles like “Strong Long” by Ian McCluskey and “My route to Mazamas & Vanishing Glaciers” by Peter Boag are so well written, humorous, and inspiring. I like many titles from Patagonia books, especially Yvon Chouinard’s books because they’re about preserving the outdoors, climbing, surfing, history, and building environmentally friendly businesses.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? Big snowy mountains and solitary off-the-beaten path alpine routes : )
Sohaib, I learned something new about you through reading this. Which is good because now that you’re famous I will need to hold on to those memories from days of yore. See you out there!