Insight | Case study: Saeed Al-Memari
Enterprise
Saeed Al-Memari is an Emirati mountaineer and the first UAE national to conquer Mount Everest. He was also the first Arab to complete the “Explorer Grand Slam”, summiting the highest mountains in each of the world’s seven continents in addition to travelling to both the North and South Poles. Al-Memari’s latest challenge is to join the elite group of mountaineers known as “The Eight Thousanders” and climb the world’s fourteen highest peaks. Al-Memari also launched the Fujairah Adventure Center, a government-managed adventure sport facility.
Born in Fujairah in 1977 between the mountains and the sea, the adventurer made his mark on history by being the first Emirati to scale Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal. Following that achievement, Al-Memari returned to climb Everest again in 2012, this time from the more treacherous north Tibetan side.
By 2015 he had completed the daunting “Explorer Grand Slam” and, over the last decade, he has climbed over 57 mountains, including K2, one of the world’s deadliest peaks and the world’s second-highest mountain, located on the Pakistan-Chinese border. He hopes to become the first Arab to join “The Eight Thousanders” by conquering the world’s fourteen highest mountains, each with peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level.
In 2017, Al-Memari joined the “Climb for Cancer” expedition to the peak of Mont Blanc. Al-Memari knows the value of having a connectivity solution on such hazardous mountaineering expeditions, so that he and his team are able to stay connected and safe at all times.
Having relied on Inmarsat’s connectivity services for numerous mountaineering expeditions, Al-Memari and his climbing team chose to partner with Inmarsat and Global Beam Telecom to keep them connected to the outside world while on the charity expedition in 2017.
Al-Memari is a keen advocate of Inmarsat’s IsatPhone 2 , which operates on the most reliable satellite communications network in the world and allows users to pinpoint their location and call for emergency assistance at the touch of a button. IsatPhone 2 offered Al-Memari and his team unrivalled battery life as well as email, SMS and GPS capabilities, enabling them to stay in constant contact with support teams, even in the most challenging weather conditions.
Additionally, to stay in touch with supporters and followers on social media and to promote expeditions as effectively as possible, Al-Memari used a low-profile EXPLORER 323 Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminal . This helped him to chart expeditions through photos, videos and social media updates for his followers around the world.
In August 2017, Inmarsat’s BGAN service and IsatPhone 2 helped Al Memari to successfully participate in the “Climb for Cancer” initiative, together with the patients of the Global Virotherapy Cancer Clinic, which is based in Latvia.
Inmarsat’s IsatPhone 2 was on hand to ensure his climb went as safely as possible. Thankfully there were no emergencies on the expedition, with Al-Memari and the team successfully raising much-needed funds for the Global Virotherapy Cancer Clinic.
Using the EXPLORER 323 BGAN terminal meant Al-Memari was always in touch with family, friends and people around the world watching his progress. This was especially useful for his team’s fundraising efforts, as being able to provide a first-hand, real-time account of the expedition proved instrumental in raising awareness.
