KHAPLU: Two more Pakistani climbers successfully summited on Monday the 10th highest mountain peak in the world, Mount Annapurna in Nepal, setting new records in the process.
At the height of 8,091 meters above sea level, Mount Annapurna is widely considered to be a tough climb and has claimed the lives of more than 60 climbers striving to make an ascent.
Naila Kiani, a Dubai-based Pakistani mountaineer, became the first female climber from Pakistan to summit Mount Annapurna. Kiani has so far summited four peaks above the height 8,000 meters.
Shehroze Kashif, 21, summited the peak early Monday morning, becoming the youngest climber to summit 11 out of 14 ‘eigth-thousanders’ in the world.
“CONGRATULATIONS to Naila Kiani, Shehroze Kashif and Seven Summit [Trek] team on successful ascent of Mt. Annapurna 8,091m this morning, on 17 April 2023 between 6:30 to 7:30 Am,” Karrar Haidri, general-secretary for the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said in a statement.
“Naila Kiani now becomes the first Pakistani woman to climb #Annapurna, Shehroze has now become the youngest mountaineer in the world to summit 11 peaks above 8,000 meters.”
Nepalese mountaineer Chhang Dawa Sherpa, who is the expedition director for the Seven Summit Trek, hailed Kiani and Kashif on the successful ascent of Mount Annapurna.
Kashif’s father, Salman, shared his son's plans to climb Mount Dhaulagiri (8,167m) next in his quest to summit all of the 14 mountains above 8,000 meters.
“Six months ago, he (Shehroze) was operated on for spinal surgery and we were upset about this expedition due to the surgery. We were very fearful about his trouble. Now, Alhamdulillah, he has [summited Annapurna],” Kashif’s father told Arab News.
“We were awake the whole night. Though we were worried. But we are enjoying it. Now after this, he would climb Mt Dhaulagiri (8,167 meters). Then he will leave for China [to climb Mount Shishapangma and Cho Oyu].”
Kiani, a banker, an amateur boxer and a mother of two daughters, also became the first Pakistani woman climber to summit four peaks above 8,000m, Haidri said.
Kiani previously summited K2 (8,611m), Gasherbrum-I (8,068m) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035m). In 2018, she became an Internet sensation after images of her wedding shoot at the K2 base camp were widely shared on social media.
Last week, Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara has successfully summited Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest peak, without supplemental oxygen.
Sadpara, the son of Pakistan’s late iconic high-altitude mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, has already summited K2 (8,611 meters) twice as well as Nepal’s Manaslu (8,163 meters). The mountaineer has also successfully climbed Gasherbrum-I (8,080 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035 meters) without supplementary oxygen.
