KHAPLU, GILGIT-BALTISTAN: Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif on Wednesday successfully summited Mt Dhaulagiri (8167m), the seventh highest mountain in the world, making him the youngest climber ever to summit 12 out of 14 of the world’s mountains that are higher than 8,000 meters.
Kashif, now 21, was 19 years and 138 days old when he became the youngest person to summit both Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, and K2, the second-highest.
He has also climbed Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), Mount Lhotse (8,516 m), Manaslu (8,163 m), Broad Peak (8,047 m), Mount Annapurna (8,091m), Gasherbrum-2 (8,035) and Kanchenjunga (8,586m).
“Renowned mountaineer Shehroze Kashif has summited World’s 7th highest peak Dhaulagiri 8167m in Nepal today on 17 May 2023,” Karrar Haidri, the secretary-general for the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said in a statement. “This is Shehroze’s 12th x8000m peak. He is the youngest climber in the world to summit 12X8000m peaks.”
Haidri told Arab News Kashif had climbed all peaks of Pakistan and Nepal that were above the height of 8,000 meters.
“Shehroze has done 12 peaks and he is now the youngest [climber] in the world to do so. All peaks of Pakistan and Nepal are completed, and now Shishapangma and Cho Oyu are left and he will do them from the Tibet side of China,” Haidri said, referring to the world’s 14th and sixth highest mountains, respectively.
The young climber’s father Salman Kashif said Kashif was an 11-year-old boy when he first climbed Makra Peak (3,885 meters) in northern Pakistan.
“Shehroze is still an 11-year-boy for me who persisted to climb Makra Peak,” he told Arab News over the phone soon after his son’s summit of Dhaulagiri.
“Then the process [of climbing] began. Sometimes, I can’t believe he has completed 12 8,000ers,” he added.
“He has now done all five peaks of Pakistan and seven peaks of Nepal … Only two 8000ers are left which are located in China. Once he gets a permit, he will finish these two peaks this autumn.”
Salman said the nights became hard for the family whenever Kashif went for a climb.
“Me and my wife often say that we have gotten older before our time because we can’t sleep all night during his summits,” the father said. “We monitor all his movements through the tracker. And when it stops, our heartbeat also stops.”
Last year the military had to airlift Kashif and another climber to safety, two days after the pair went missing after scaling Nanga Parbat, known as “Killer Mountain,” because of its dangerous conditions.
“But god willing this is a very proud movement for us parents,” Salman said.
On Tuesday, two Pakistani high-altitude climbers, Naila Kiani and Nadia Azad, summited the world’s fourth-highest peak, Mount Lhotse, in Nepal, setting records.
