British mountaineer says K2 challenge is ‘one of the world's toughest'
Located on the border of Pakistan and China, K2 has a reputation for being extremely challenging to climb because of its steep slopes, avalanches and unpredictable weather.
Mr Rahman, based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is attempting to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world.
I knew I wanted to keep challenging myself Akke Rahman, mountaineer
He started out in climbing by scaling Snowdon in Wales in 2019.
In 2020, Mr Rahman climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc within a week and, later that year, he broke the UK record for climbing Russia's Elbrus – Europe's tallest mountain – after reaching the summit in less than 24 hours.
In 2022, he became the first British Muslim to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain.
He has raised more than £1 million for charity during his mountaineering career.
Mr Rahman said compared with other mountains, K2 is 'one of the world's toughest'.
He went on: 'When I discovered climbing, I knew I wanted to keep challenging myself by summiting more and more mountains.'
Luke Broad, UK brand director for car manufacturer Dacia, which is providing funding to support Mr Rahman's K2 attempt, said: 'Dacia is a brand with outdoor spirit.
'There is no better way of showing our support for adventure and the great outdoors than to support Akke.
'We are really impressed with his drive and determination, so we are proud to support his next challenge.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
02-08-2025
- Times
Dacia Bigster review: not that ugly — and a fuel economy to make Ceausescu proud
Saying 'I've got a Bigster' while swinging your car keys at a party sounds like a cheap gag, but cheap is good when it comes to family cars. This £25,215 Romanian-made SUV with a funny name manages to undercut better-known rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage and Ford Kuga. It's cheap to run too. We measured it at 60mpg for the 1.8-litre petrol hybrid (PHEV) version. That's pretty remarkable considering 30mpg was the best you could expect from a big SUV not long ago. • Read more expert reviews, news and insights on cars and motoring More about the fuel-sipping engine technology in a moment, but first here are the reasons you may want to test-drive a Bigster, apart from the fact that it's not another Chinese import. First is that the Bigster manages to feel roomier than rivals thanks to a bigger boot — 677 litres — and low window lines that give it an airy feel inside. The seats neatly split and fold so you can easily load a bike in the back, or lots of suitcases if you're doing the airport run, or even a stubby kayak. Rear-seat passengers — even tall ones — get enough legroom to avoid having their knees up round their chin, budget airline style. And unlike many cut-price SUVs, the Bigster doesn't look like a cheap knock-off. It's chunky enough to pass for a Jeep, albeit a soap rendering of one that's been left in the shower. There are skid plates front and rear to protect the underside, and the bumpers, wheel arches and sideskirts are made from a tough plastic called Starkle. Dacia boasts that Starkle is made from recycled materials possibly plastic dashboards from early Dacias. So far so good, but before signing on the dotted line, prospective customers will be asking themselves a deep and searching question: do they want the automotive equivalent of an 'own brand' supermarket item sitting on their drive? • VW Tayron review: seven seats and 600 miles on a single tank Founded in 1966 in the early days of the Ceausescu regime, the Dacia automobile company was the puppet state's answer to Russia's Lada, assembling cars for the masses under licence and offering slightly more luxurious versions for Communist Party officials. Dacia was successful enough to outlast both the Ceausescus and the Soviets. Renault saw the possibilities of a low-cost manufacturing outpost and bought it in 1999, launching the '5,000 euros car', the Dacia Logan, which attracted buyers in France, Italy and Germany. Other cheap-as-chips models followed, including the Sandero, the Jogger and the Duster. And now we have the Bigster, a cheaply produced SUV that's spacious, economical and not as ugly as some rivals. Unfortunately that's where it runs out of road. Dacia may have pretensions to be a grown-up car company but it's not there yet. The Bigster's interior looks like a leftover from the Soviet bloc era. It's so basic it's spartan, soaking up vibrancy with a joyless blend of grey plastics. The infotainment system bongs relentlessly at the smallest of transgressions and the seats don't pass the comfort test. By the end of a long journey you feel as though you've sat through a drawn-out politburo meeting. • Ford Puma Gen E review — Britain's bestselling car goes electric From the outside the Bigster looks tall but inside it's more like an estate car without the high-up driving position an SUV should have, and hence without the good visibility and feeling of security. It does share some of the characteristics of an SUV, notably soaking up speed humps and potholes and smoothing out ruts and bumps, but cornering and changing lanes aren't its strong points. Neither does it offer the kind of off-road proficiency you'd expect judging from its ruggedised looks. When you stretch the engine in low gear there's a droning sound, as though the car has been surrounded by angry bees. The cleverest bit is the powertrain on the 155 model, a system developed by Renault. That 60mpg figure is achieved by combining a 109bhp four-cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors, a 1.4 kWh battery and an automatic electric gearbox. It sips fuel while cruising and then, when you lift your foot off the throttle, it gets busy harvesting energy and feeding it back into the battery. The result is fewer fill-ups and a low vehicle excise duty band (band F, £390 a year). For a whisker over £25,000 for the Expression trim, you're clearly not going to get the hushed ride and pillowy suppleness of a premium German SUV, but the Bigster still has a way to go before it can match the refinement of, say, Skoda, another eastern European brand that started as the butt of jokes. • Porsche Cayenne review — a family hybrid with oomph The Bigster feels like a work in progress. No doubt Dacia is already developing an improved version. Having overcome the ticklish engineering challenges of building the Bigster's powertrain, it will soon get to grips with the problems of comfort and handling. In the meantime, for a similar price, it's worth checking out a used BMW X5 or a Porsche Cayenne. Neither match the Bigster's laudable fuel economy, but they will get you to your destination with a little more panache —and you'll have a better key fob to show off at parties.
Auto Express
31-07-2025
- Auto Express
Très rapide! All new Renault models will come to market twice as quickly as before
Newly appointed Renault CEO François Provost has insisted that the accelerated development process of the forthcoming Twingo small electric car is 'the right pace to apply to all [Renault] products' – potentially reducing their time to market by more than 50 per cent. The new Twingo will be revealed next year, having gone from concept to production in just 21 months. Sub-brand Dacia will push things even further, slashing a car's development time to just 16 months. Provost said this new-found speed will ensure the 'acceleration of [the Renault Group's] transformation' over the next few years. New-car development times usually range from two to five years – with Chinese disruptors applying pressure on European manufacturers to quicken the period from initial concept to start of production. In his first media Q&A, Provost told Auto Express that his firm's ability to transform these times will be a 'key performance trigger' in the short to medium term, as it continues to invest in new models. If you can't wait, check out the latest Renault offers through the Auto Express Find a Car service. Advertisement - Article continues below The benefits are multi-faceted. The new boss said reducing development times is 'quicker, smarter and less expensive,' and brings 'innovation quicker to the customer' – suggesting Renault wants to keep its products competitive in a way it has struggled to in the past. This shift of mindset won't only apply to facelifted models, or those on an existing product architecture, with Provost insisting Renault has to apply this attitude 'to all projects,' with one of his main aims in the early days of his tenure being to implement this 'in France, in Europe, in [Renault's] ecosystem'. Elsewhere, however, Provost and his team have refused to turn former CEO Luca de Meo's well-defined strategy on its head, prioritising 'value over volume'. Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault's chairman of the board of directors, said the plan is to maintain 'strategic manoeuverability' and 'embody some kind of continuity, but with open eyes: understanding what needs to be changed and what needs to be maintained'. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from...
Auto Express
30-07-2025
- Auto Express
Cheap electric cars are more appealing than ever
We had a fascinating day recently, driving half a dozen of the cheapest electric cars around and covering plenty of miles to see how far these baby EVs can go on a charge in the real world. The six were split into distinct groups. The two most affordable cars feel very obviously cheap inside. I don't think I'd want to cover big miles in the Leapmotor T03 or Dacia Spring, but they are capable, low-cost options for an urban runaround second car that'll cost pennies to run. Advertisement - Article continues below When I checked Auto Express's marketplace, you could get a Spring for under £11,500, or £143 a month, or the Leapmotor T03 for less than £14,500. I'm not sure either will emerge from the Government's Electric Car Grant chaos with anything more off, but that still puts them among the cheapest cars you can buy. The other four cars feel notably more grown up and complete. The BYD Dolphin Surf, Fiat Grande Panda, Hyundai Inster and Renault 5 are all compelling options that, if you can charge at home and don't frequently cover big distances, have plenty of appeal. The Panda and 5 in particular have bags of character, whereas the Inster is a different, more sensible car that prioritises impressive cabin space (a well documented weakness of the Renault) over style. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below A big criticism of electric cars has long been that they are not affordable enough to encourage people to make the switch. But setting aside the new Electric Car Grant, we now have a whole spectrum of sensibly priced EVs. Panda apart – it's so new, we had to borrow a left-hand-drive car for our test – any of these models can be had for under £250 a month on lease, depending on size of deposit. Low prices don't mean there's no discount for buying outright, either – unless you want the 5, because right now Renault is selling every car it can get its hands on. In the Auto Express marketplace, the average saving on a new BYD Dolphin Surf is £1,300-plus, more than £2,000 on a T03, and over £3,000 on the others, so there are some hugely enticing deals around. But the key thing is that these aren't for glorified milk floats. With home charging, you can do all the urban running around you like, in a well equipped, stylish and perky performer, for not much more up front – and a load less on fuel – than with the equivalent petrol supermini. Fancy a low-cost EV on your driveway? Our Find a Car service has thousands of new, used and leasing deals to choose from... Find a car with the experts Hyundai reduces prices across its entire EV range Hyundai reduces prices across its entire EV range Korean brand acts swiftly to cut prices on all its electric cars, amid confusion over Government's grant scheme New Citroen C5 Aircross SUV undercuts the Volkswagen Tiguan by a huge £7k New Citroen C5 Aircross SUV undercuts the Volkswagen Tiguan by a huge £7k Citroen's revamped flagship C5 Aircross SUV is available to order now with hybrid or electric power Car Deal of the Day: Polestar 4 is a head-turning EV for a super cool price Car Deal of the Day: Polestar 4 is a head-turning EV for a super cool price The 'car with no rear window' is looking seriously cheap on lease right now. It's our Deal of the Day for July 28
