How I Trained for Everest in the Saudi Desert with Nelly Attar

Wild Ideas Worth Living

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4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Nelly Attar has climbed more than 30 notable peaks around the world, including Mount Everest. Her journey to these intense mountaineering expeditions had an unconventional origin: dance. She grew up learning choreography from YouTube and later opened Saudi Arabia’s first dance studio. As she explored movement through fitness, weightlifting, and hiking, she built the foundation for high-altitude endurance. In 2022, Nelly became the first Arab to summit K2.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I wanted to lead by example.
0:02.2	I wanted people to see that if I could do it, they could do it too.
0:04.9	And I wanted to kind of carve out that pathway for them.
0:07.8	You know, I went from dancing to then doing endurance sports.
0:11.0	And then that's when, like, I started delving more and more in the world of hiking
0:14.3	and outdoor sports and until eventually I climbed the highest mountain in the world.
0:31.2	Nellie Atar has climbed more than 30 notable peaks around the world, including Mount Everest.
0:40.0	But her journey to these intense mountaineering expeditions had an unconventional origin, dance. Nellie grew up dancing along to YouTube videos, and eventually she opened the first dance studio in Saudi Arabia, which at the time
0:45.8	was pretty revolutionary. Along the way, Nellie fell in love with all different types of movement,
0:51.9	from group fitness classes to weightlifting and hiking.
0:55.9	These disciplines laid the groundwork for Nellie's mountaineering career. She's broken multiple
1:00.5	records for her ascents, and in 2022, Nellie became the first Arab to Summit K2,
1:06.9	which is known as the world's most dangerous mountain. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living,
1:13.9	an REI Co-Op Studios production, presented by Capital One and the REI Co-Op MasterCard.
1:21.9	Nellia Tar, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living.
1:24.8	You have truly lived a wildlife, so I'm really excited to talk to you
1:28.3	today. Where are you right now? I am tuning in from Dubai, Dubai United Arab Emirates. I think you're
1:35.1	a first guest that's tuning in from Dubai. Amazing. Tell us a little bit about where you grew up.
1:41.9	So I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
1:47.3	And I grew up in what was once considered the least active country in the world.
1:53.2	You know, I was always brought up in a desert environment.
1:57.3	We had sports and school on and off.
	...

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