On 10 April 2025, I drove 936 kilometers. From my home in Bahrain to Kuwait, and back.
Not for business. Not for a speaking engagement. Not for a holiday.
I crossed a border to watch a film.
The film was Tenacious: The Story of His Ascent of Mount Everest Without Supplemental Oxygen, about the Kuwaiti climber Yousef Al Shatti. And I confess, I had not followed his climb in real time. I only began to understand what he had achieved when I heard about the documentary and found out who was behind the camera.
Elia Saikaly.
If you follow high-altitude climbing, you know the name. Elia is the filmmaker and climber who has documented some of the world’s most extreme expeditions. And he was not meeting Yousef for the first time. He had already filmed him on Ama Dablam in 2019. So what we saw in Tenacious came through the lens of someone who had watched Yousef grow from one bold summit to the next.
That was enough for me. I booked my ticket, and off I went.
The Voice Message
Before the screening, I messaged Yousef. I told him I was driving all the way from Bahrain to watch Tenacious. I wrote to him again when I booked my ticket.
No reply.
Still, I went. I watched. I waited. And just as I was about to leave the mall and head to my hotel, he left me a voice message.
A few minutes later, there he was, standing calmly near the escalator. No entourage. No spotlight.
He welcomed me like an old friend. We hugged and exchanged kisses. I did not feel like I was meeting a world record holder. I felt like I was catching up with someone I had been quietly cheering for from a distance.
And then he did something I did not expect. He thanked me for making the drive. Then he thanked me again. And he did not keep it to himself. He told everyone we met:
“This man drove all the way from Bahrain just to watch the film.”
Think about that. The first Arab to reach the South Summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen made my 936 kilometers sound like the achievement.
I thought to myself: this is what quiet greatness looks like.
Nobody Climbs Alone
As I watched the film, my own trek to Everest Base Camp in May 2022 came rushing back. The prayer flags. The trails. The rhythm of footsteps through the Khumbu Valley. I had seen the mountain. He had stood on it.
But what stayed with me most were not the summit shots. It was the people.
His mother and father, in moments of deep reflection. His uncle, checking in with real concern. His doctor, who brought medical knowledge and genuine care in equal measure.
Two scenes got me. The first was in Namche Bazaar, where his parents came to meet him after his high-altitude rotations. The second was at Kuwait International Airport, when he came home and walked straight into their arms. No speeches. No heroic music. Just a family.
Then there was his cousin, Abdulla. He surprised Yousef at Everest Base Camp, and you could read everything on Yousef’s face: joy, disbelief, gratitude. Throughout the expedition, Abdulla worked the radio and kept Yousef connected to his loved ones in Kuwait.
Even the strongest climber needs someone in his corner. Someone to relay the messages. Someone to hold the line when the air gets thin.
The Sherpas Got Their Credit
Here is something I noticed, and I wish more climbers did it. Twice in the film, Yousef went out of his way to praise the Sherpas and porters. The people who carry the weight, literally, and rarely make the headlines.
One of them was PK Sherpa, his lead guide. Yousef trusted PK with his life. And it was not always smooth between them. They had conflicts. They had confrontations. But they were the good kind, the kind that pushes a team toward the mission instead of away from it.
Sometimes the strongest person on the mountain still has to follow the one who knows the path. That is leadership too.
And one line kept coming back throughout the film:
“I believe in God, and I believe in myself.”
Yousef Al Shatti
He did not shout it. He lived it. Faith in something greater, and faith in the preparation he had built inside himself. Far from comfort. Far from certainty. In the thin air of Everest.
K.U.W.A.I.T.: Six Lessons from the Summit
After the film and that meeting, I began to reflect on what I had seen. And the country Yousef represents handed me the perfect acronym.
K: Keep Showing Up. Mountains do not fall to strength. They fall to persistence. Day after day. Breath after breath.
U: Unshakable Focus. From his Naval Special Forces background to Ama Dablam to Everest, his purpose never wavered. No distractions. No drama. On a mountain, that kind of focus keeps you alive. In a company, it keeps your team aligned.
W: Weather the Storms. Brutal winds near the Yellow Band. Fatigue on the South Summit. He endured both. Storms are temporary. Character is not.
A: Aspire Beyond Limits. No Arab had ever reached the South Summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen. Yousef did. Most limits are illusions. Dreams do not need permission. They need preparation.
I: Inspire Through Action. No motivational speeches. No dramatic declarations. Just effort, discipline, and execution.
T: Touch Lives Quietly. After reaching the summit, he said something I will never forget:
“Now I just want to return to Kathmandu and eat pizza, burgers, and ice cream.”
Pizza, burgers, and ice cream! Funny, but powerful. At that moment, he was not a hero. He was human. And that is exactly why he inspires. He reminds the rest of us that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things.
Why I Really Drove to Kuwait
I told you I crossed a border to watch a film. That is only half true.
I went to reconnect. With courage. With resilience. With what it means to lead quietly in a noisy world.
Yousef pushed to the South Summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen. But what he really showed me, near an escalator in a Kuwaiti mall, is that greatness does not need ego either. It needs grit, humility, and a reason to keep climbing.
What Is Your Everest?
And what would make you drive 936 kilometers, literally or figuratively, to feel alive again?
See you at the Summit!
About Yousef’s Ama Dablam flag: In 2019, Yousef Al Shatti and mountaineer Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja unfurled a Kuwaiti flag from the summit of Ama Dablam (6,812 meters) to celebrate Kuwait’s National Day. It measured 100 meters long and 30 meters wide, weighed about 150 kilograms, and came in six sections. It could be seen from up to 12 kilometers away in the Khumbu Valley and set a record for the largest flag displayed at that altitude. After a brief display, the team removed it carefully, leaving no lasting impact on the mountain.
First published in Peak Perspectives, Mohamed’s LinkedIn newsletter, Edition #1, April 15, 2025.
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