KHALPU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Shehroze Kashif, a teenage Pakistani mountaineer who last month summited K2, on Saturday scaled Nepal's Manaslu, officials and the climber's father confirmed, as he moved closer to becoming the youngest person to reach the world's 14 highest peaks.
Kashif, 19, began climbing in his early teens. A native of Lahore, Punjab province, he scaled the world’s 12th highest mountain, Broad Peak (8,047 meters), at the age of 17. In May, he became the youngest Pakistani to scale Mount Everest (8,849-meters), the world’s highest mountain, and in August made the world record as the youngest person to scale K2 (8,611 meters), the world’s most deadly peak known as the Savage Mountain.
Manaslu (8,163 meters), located in the Mansiri Himal in the Nepalese Himalayas, west-central Nepal, is the world's eighth-highest mountain and the fourth of the 14 eight-thousanders Kashif aims to scale.
"Today morning, Shehroze summited Manaslu 8163m ASL in Nepal at 5:40 a.m. PST," Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, announced in a social media post. "The whole nation is proud of you Shehroze."
The young climber's father told Arab News he will try to summit the remaining tallest peaks within two years.
"We will leave no stone unturned to achieve his goal. IA, he will become the youngest climber in the world to scale all 14 peaks within the next two years,” Salman Kashif said, adding that his son's achievements show his commitment toward the goal.
The 14 peaks — all above 8,000 meters — are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges — across Nepal, Tibet and Pakistan.
"A teenager summited three peaks above eight–thousand including Mount Everest within five months," the father said. "This is a very proud movement for not only parents but also for the whole nation."
Congratulations poured in on Saturday following Kashif's summit of Manaslu.
"You make us proud. Keep it up," Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi said in a tweet.
Punjab Sports Minister Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti also took to social media to call Kashif a "young national hero" and say he had "never seen such an example of bravery and courage at such a young age."
