Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with the Conquerors of Mount Everest

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I am very pleased to meet with you dear mountaineers once again. The extraordinary importance of this meeting lies in the fact that among you proud athletes, the women who conquered Mount Everest are also present. Truly, one feels a sense of pride that our young, faithful women can create such a great and valuable movement and become a source of pride for the Iranian community.

When I heard the news, I was delighted; and when I saw the photos of the ascent of the women standing at an altitude of apparently eight thousand eight hundred meters, holding the flag of "O Fatimah al-Zahra," I felt even prouder. The greatness of this achievement is immense. Certainly, many of the listeners and viewers of these programs cannot feel how much willpower and physical and spiritual vitality is required to bring a person to that place in such adverse weather, under severe pressure, with all those obstacles, and without any spectators. In a football, volleyball, or basketball field, there are many spectators standing, applauding, cheering, and watching; but in the solitude of the mountains, especially in that remote area, among these valleys and ice towers and in that adverse weather, a brave and determined woman moves forward, intending to extract and manifest the hidden power and strength within her body and soul; this is truly magnificent; it is a great achievement. I consider honoring you my duty, and it is truly and fairly necessary to show the greatness of this work to the people. This work is significant from two or three perspectives:

One is the immense promotional and demonstrative aspect of this work on a global scale. This is a great display. Display does not only mean acting; it means presenting the inner feelings of a nation before the eyes of the world so that they can see it. With words, many claims can be made. If a nation can demonstrate what it claims—if it says it is brave, if it says it is confident and assured in its culture, if it says it has the power to nurture great individuals, if it says it is filled with determination and willpower—these are claims that all nations can make. But if it can show this in a field and present it before the eyes of the world, the value of this work is greater than dozens of books written about the virtues of this nation. Now, we may say that the Iranian Muslim woman is such and such; this is just talk; it may convince our audience or it may not; but when our Muslim woman shows herself in such a field or in similar great arenas—as mentioned, in the battlefield, in the arena of epic and sacrifice, in the political arena, in the management of the country, or in the field of science—this work is worth more than dozens of books, hundreds of pages, and thousands of lines written about it. This is the embodiment of reality; this is the manifestation of what exists; they cannot deny what they see. What they can do is not to reflect it in their propaganda; as they have not done and do not do; but we ourselves must reflect this in our propaganda. You, the officials of this federation and the officials of the Physical Education Organization, strive to ensure that the media accurately conveys the significance of this matter, just as it does for some other sports.

Another aspect of this work is the spiritual and psychological dimension. Just as the ascent to great peaks by elites draws average individuals to the foothills—I have said this many times—respect for champions is not idol worship; it is encouragement for people to move in this direction, which has benefits for the country. In the spiritual realm, when we embody and demonstrate the will and determination of a young Muslim or a Muslim woman, showing what resolute determination has brought them to this arena, this fosters willpower at the average levels of society. Of course, in this work, there are other moral virtues: teamwork, reliance, self-confidence; all these are characteristics that are intertwined in the existence of an athlete who performs such great feats, meaning that there is, in fact, a complex of correct feelings and noble traits in an athlete who engages in such a great sport and undertaking.

The third aspect of the matter is the sporting dimension. Mountaineering means ascending to the peaks that abound in our country. Mountaineering is a sport accessible to everyone; people should go and exercise; they should go to the heights of northern Tehran or to the many heights that exist in most parts of the country and benefit from this pure air, from this God-given mountain. Therefore, to encourage the people, the best thing is to showcase the achievements of these women and men. This third aspect is, in fact, encouragement for public sports. A country and a nation must ensure their physical health, and sports play a very important role in achieving this.

They mentioned the cultural aspect of sports. Of course, the cultural aspect is certainly present in sports and is necessary and must be pursued; but the core essence of sports is physical training and advancement. Sick people, impatient people, those who do not recognize the abilities and powers that God has placed in the body of a human being; let alone that they want to manifest it in the fields of action, there is little hope for them to accomplish anything. This small body—this body with its limited volume and dimensions that you and I have—has capabilities far beyond what we are currently utilizing; this will be discovered in the future of humanity. In all sports, this issue exists where aspects of human physical capabilities are manifested. In our normal state, we want this leg to get up so that we can go to our workplace one or two kilometers away, or less or more, or bend down and pick something up from here and place it there—our use of this body is only to this extent—but is this all the physical capabilities? No. When you see that a person weighing one hundred and twenty or thirty kilograms lifts three times his weight above his head; or a young woman ascends eight thousand eight hundred and forty meters up a mountain, it becomes clear that our limits are not just climbing these stairs. Look at how much distance there is between going from the first floor to the second floor, to going to an altitude of five thousand and several hundred meters and living there for sixty days! This sounds easy to say; but it is something extraordinary. This shows a glimpse of human physical capabilities; this is the physical capability of humanity. Humans are stronger than all other creatures in the world, and God Almighty has created every fiber of this intertwined body from the brain—just as the experts tell us, human knowledge has not yet recognized the main functions of the brain's volume and does not even know what this part of the brain is for—down to the rest of the human body's organs, in such a way that we still do not know our own bodies. One of the most important functions of sports is that it constantly opens new fields and horizons and demonstrates the capabilities of the human body and the power of the Creator in creating this being, this unique entity called human. This body, with all its mobility, is accompanied by a spiritual factor, and that factor is human intellect and will, which humans can utilize to guide this body and move it in various directions. That will itself is an extraordinary thing. Sometimes a person wants—to put it as I said—to go from the first floor to the second floor; they lack the patience, they lack the will; their will is not strong enough to lift something heavy from here and place it there; but this same will has the capability to go to the roof of the world; to the peak of Everest. Look at how much distance there is! Doctors are satisfied with ten minutes of morning exercise and say that in the morning, just move your hands, feet, and head for ten minutes; but human will falters and says, "I cannot." No matter how much we ask, "Why don’t you exercise?" they say, "I cannot." "I cannot"; this means my capacity is empty, and at this level, this container has no capacity at all; but when we start working with this very container, we see it has gone to the peak of Everest! How could this container be empty? Because we had not utilized it.

You ladies have done a great job; may your hands not ache, may your feet not ache; and also you dear young people who went; and also the respected officials who planned these activities. We are very happy that, thanks be to God, you have achieved this success.

You went to the peak of Everest with your culture. "O Fatimah al-Zahra"; this is your culture; this belongs to you; and it represents this proud country today that does such work in sports; that progresses in the scientific field; that advances in experimental, practical, and technical fields; that has its nuclear energy, its stem cell sector, and in political fields and many other diverse tasks as well. This nation, like a body whose pulse is beating and is growing from all sides, is working. This indicates a living nation. This living nation’s slogan is the very things you raised there: you mentioned the name of God, the names of God’s saints, and the sacred name of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her).

We thank all of you and hope that the issues mentioned will be addressed and that you will work to ensure that this practical sport grows even more. Some sports are not practical at all; for example, fencing. When someone becomes a champion in fencing, what is its application? Or similar things, which it is better if I do not mention the useless sports; but this sport, like many other sports, has practical applications; this sport is directly related to the lives of people and is from production to consumption, and everyone can utilize it. Promote this sport and encourage it.

Sometimes, when I overcome the laziness discussed and the weaknesses related to age and old age, I go up a few steps from the mountains around Tehran and see that there is no one! I feel sad. In the mountains, there are places where buildings are visible beneath my feet; there are so many people sleeping in their rooms, among them are young people, among them are those whose physical appearance has at least ten times the strength and power of us; but they do not come out of these rooms, while we, from this corner of the city, at nearly seventy years of age, go there. One feels very sad that why they do not come up four steps there and take advantage of this opportunity. You provide facilities and buses so that if someone wants to come from the lower city and from distant routes to these heights, they can. The heights of some cities are a little far from the city, so provide means so that if someone wants, they can come—now if someone does not have the will and determination, that is another discussion—and be encouraged; do not let them say, "We did not have the means and did not come."

God willing, may you be successful.