KATMANDU, Nepal: A 25-year-old graduate student from Jeddah has made history by becoming the first Saudi woman to reach the world's highest peak Mount Everest, world news agencies reported Saturday.
Raha Moharrak, a university graduate currently based in Dubai, was with a group of 64 climbers who have successfully scaled Mount Everest from Nepal’s side of the mountain, reports from the BBC and Associated Press said.
Tilak Padney of Nepal’s Mountaineering Department said 35 foreigners accompanied by 29 Nepalese Sherpa guides reached the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak on Saturday morning after climbing all night from the highest camp on South Col.
All were reported to be safe.
Moharrak was with a four-person expedition that also includes two Arab men climbers from Qatar and Palestine, both attempting to be billed the first of their nations to reach the summit, said the BBC.
The expedition aims to raise one million dollars for education projects in Nepal, the report added.
A biography on the expedition website said Moharrak's family fully supported her participation in the climb, although convincing them to agree "was as great a challenge as the mountain itself."
On her making history, she said: "I really don't care about being the first. So long as it inspires someone else to be second."