How Zubair Firdous found his calling in Kashmir’s Alpine Lakes

Srinagar, Jun 15: For most youngsters in Kashmir, cricket grounds and football fields are where sporting dreams begin. For 29-year-old ZubairFirdous of Baramulla, the journey started there too. But destiny had other plans. Today, he is known across Kashmir’s trekking community as a passionate mountaineer who has explored nearly 200 alpine lakes, turning his love for mountains into a mission of discovery and adventure.

Speaking to Greater Kashmir, Zubair said his tryst with adventure began in 2014 when he started trekking through Kashmir’s meadows.

“Initially, from 2014 to 2018, I was mostly trekking through meadows. I did not know much about alpine lakes. Then I explored Tarsar Lake and realised there was an entirely different world hidden in the mountains,” he said.

The sight of the pristine alpine lake sparked a deep curiosity in him.

“When I explored maps and read about the mountains, I came to know that there was a good number of alpine lakes across Jammu and Kashmir, including the PirPanjal, Greater Himalayas and Ladakh regions. I became very excited, and gradually my curiosity kept increasing,” he said.

That curiosity soon transformed into an obsession. Since 2018, Zubair said, he devoted himself to exploring Kashmir’s alpine treasures. He said that last year, he completed his 150th alpine lake expedition. Recently, he reached another milestone by touching the mark of nearly 200 alpine lakes explored.

“Almost 70 to 80 per cent of the alpine lakes in Kashmir Valley have been covered by me. There are still some left in Ladakh and other regions,” he said.

Interestingly, before becoming an adventurer, Zubair had another sporting identity. He played cricket competitively at various age-group levels.

“I participated in U-14, U-17, U-19 and U-23 cricket. I was selected and remained closely associated with the game. Alongside cricket, I used to go trekking occasionally and eventually the mountains became my calling,” he said.

According to him, there was something about the mountains that kept drawing him back.

“When I started exploring alpine lakes, I felt a sense of peace in the mountains. Whenever I returned from a trek, the happiness stayed with me for almost a month,” he said.

Driven by this passion, Zubair founded ‘Alpine Hikers’ in 2018, a trekking group that has steadily grown into a vibrant community.

“Today, we have nearly 500 members from different parts of Kashmir, especially Srinagar and Anantnag. We mostly organise one-day Sunday treks and sometimes longer expeditions involving remote lakes and multi-night camping,” he said.

Contrary to the perception that youngsters are becoming increasingly glued to mobile screens, Zubair believes adventure sports are gaining popularity among Kashmir’s youth.

“Over the last few years, I have seen tremendous interest in trekking and mountaineering, including among girls. In the last three months alone, I led groups of 60, 30 and 40 participants. The numbers are increasing every year,” he said.

He attributes this growing interest to social media and people’s desire to reconnect with nature.

“There is a special kind of peace in the mountains. We all work six days a week and remain busy with our routines. But once we step into the mountains and spend time there, it refreshes us completely,” he said.

However, he feels the authorities need to do more to support adventure tourism in Kashmir.

“The biggest requirement at present is reopening trekking routes. Awareness is already there, and people are interested. The government only needs to make these destinations accessible again,” he said.

For the younger generation, Zubair has a simple message, remain physically active and stay connected with sports in whichever form possible.

“Not everyone can do mountaineering or trekking, but every individual should have some kind of sporting activity in life, whether it is football, hiking, running or anything else. Sports keep us physically and mentally healthy. I have remained connected with sports for years, and it has kept me fit and healthy,” he said.