It is informed with sorrow that Lieutenant General (Retired) Ghulam Safdar Butt, Founding Member, Founder Secretary General and former President, Alpine Club of Pakistan expired in Lahore on 01 May 06 after a brief illness at the age of 78. He was buried at Lahore the same evening. May God bless his soul in eternal peace in the Heavens.

Late General G S Butt was the main motivating force in the establishment of Alpine Club of Pakistan in 1974 and was its first Secretary General till 1979. He remained actively involved in the ACP for a long time in various capacities including its third President (1993-94). An active climber, he started his mountaineering career in 1953 as Liaison Officer with American K-2 Expedition and later climbed and trekked in Karakoram. In his departure Pakistan has lost a visionary, dynamic and enterprising person who was a source of great strength not only for the mountaineering community of Pakistan but for various national institutions where he served. He will be greatly missed by the mountaineering community both in Pakistan and at the international level with whom he enjoyed close and warm relations during his active ACP days from 19974-1994.

Late General Butt was an illustrious national figure who headed various departments of national stature and significance. Born in 1928, he was commissioned in Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers on 4 Feb 1950. After serving on various appointments and attaining graduation in Civil Engineering, he did his PhD in Soil Mechanics from California, USA in 1967. As a Brigadier he established the organisation which was tasked to construct Lowari Tunnel in 1975. On promotion to the rank of Major General in 1976 he took over the command of Frontier Works Organisation, the Army formation engaged in the construction of Karakoram Highway and other prestigious projects of national stature and significance. Later having served as Director General of an oil pipeline project he, on promotion was appointed Chairman Water and Power Authority – the national power organisation where he served for over five years before his retirement from the Army in Apr 1986. After his retirement he established numerous projects and remained consultant to various government and private sector corporations including a stunt as Chairman Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company. He leaves behind indelible print on these organisations and institutions.

General Butt is survived by a widow, one son and two daughters and few grandchildren. Contact Address for his condolence is as under:-