Nasuh Mahruki

Turkish mountaineer

Ali Nasuh Mahruki (born 21 May 1968) is a professional mountain climber, writer, photographer and documentary film producer. He climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and was the first ever Turkish person to climb the Seven Summits.

He was born on 21 May 1968 in Istanbul. He is a fifth generation descendant of Admiral Nasuhzade Ali Pasha, commander of the Ottoman navy during Sultan Mahmud II. After finishing high school at Şişli Terakki High School in Istanbul in 1987, Mahruki attended the School of Business Administration at Bilkent University in Ankara, and graduated in 1992. During his time at the university, he was introduced to mountain climbing in the university climbing club and later became club president.

Between 1992 and 1994, Mahruki climbed the five highest former Soviet mountains in Asia (Khan Tengri, Lenin Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya, Communism Peak and Peak Pobeda), which are all over 7,000 metres high. This achievement gained him the honorific title "Snow Leopard", awarded by the Russian Climbing Federation. Mahruki reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m.) on 17 May 1995, being the first ever Turkish and Muslim person to do so. In 1996, he completed the climbing of Seven Summits in seven continents (Everest, Aconcagua, Vinson Massif, Kilimanjaro, McKinley, Elbrus and Kosciuszko). In 1997, he climbed Cho Oyu solo, setting a Turkish record. He next ascended Lhotse without an oxygen tank in 1998 and climbed K2. He is the president of AKUT, a voluntary search and rescue organization based in Istanbul he co founded in 1996. Mahruki has published four books and many articles about his outdoor challenges and travels.