He, along with the Italian mountaineer Walter Bonatti, are also known for having survived a night at the highest open bivouac - 8,100 metres (26,600 ft) - on K2 in 1954.

[1] As Mehdi was wearing standard army boots, he lost all his toes to frostbite and spent 8 months in hospital recovering from the ordeal.

It was later revealed that Compagnoni had deliberately moved the camp because he wanted to prevent Bonatti and Mehdi from joining the summit bid.

When he finally returned home to his village in Hunza, Mehdi put away his ice axe and told his family he never wanted to see it again.

Amir served briefly as a government servant of Pakistan, before living out the rest of his modest life in his hometown Hassanabad.