Srinagar, Jan. 31 -- Zeeshan Mushtaq was just 24 when he joined a hiking expedition to Khemsar Lake.

A new to the sport, Zeeshan comfortably accomplished the mission organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Mountaineering and Hiking Club. The feataroused his appetite for trying more challenging tasks and scaling adventurous peaks.

Come 2024, Zeeshan is the only professional ice climber from Jammu and Kashmir who apart from climbing multiple icy peaks, opened new routes to the hiking paradise.

"Mountains shaped my vision and I pledged to make this sport my career. Soon after my first hiking expedition, I attended a basic mountaineering course by the Jawahar Institute Of Mountaineering in 2021. My interest in mountaineering grew and I studied ...