Naila Kiani becomes second Pakistani woman to scale Mount Everest

ISLAMABAD: Mountaineer Naila Kiani became the second Pakistani woman to climb the 8,848-metre-tall Mount Everest – the world’s highest mountain, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Apart from this feat this mountaineering season, the female mountaineer also became the first non-Nepalese climber to summit the peak named after Sir George Everest in 1865.

According to Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary General Karar Haidri, Naila Kiani is the first Pakistani woman climber to summit five peaks over 8,000m. The mountaineer reached Everest’s pinnacle, scaling up to 8,849 metres, at 8:02am on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Kiani for making Pakistan proud.

Adding yet another feather to her cap, Naila Kiani has made Pakistan proud by summiting Mount Everest. Through her passion for mountaineering & amazing achievements to her credit, she has reinforced the notion that our women are capable of achieving anything. Heartiest…

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 14, 2023

“Through her passion for mountaineering and amazing achievements to her credit, she has reinforced the notion that our women are capable of achieving anything. My heartiest congratulations to her & best wishes for her future plans,” he added.

Kiani is a Dubai-based Pakistani banker, an amateur boxer and a mother of two daughters.

Last month, she had scaled Annapurna Mountain (8,091 metres) – the 10th highest peak in the world also located in Nepal – to become the first female from the country to do so.

She also ascended Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in 2021 and climbed Gasherbrum-I (8,068m) and the world’s second-highest peak K2 in July 2022.

Sajid Ali Sadpara

Separately, climber Sajid Ali Sadpara made history by becoming the first Pakistani to summit Mount Everest without the support of high-altitude porters and supplemental oxygen.

Sadpara, son of the late legendary climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara, summited the 8848-metre peak situated in Nepal on Sunday in Alpine style – the type of ascent, where climbers are not supported by local porters from base camp to the summit.

💥Sajid Sadpara has summited Mt Everest 💥
History has been made as 1st Pakistani to be on the top of Everest; Solo, without use of supplemental oxygen & personal sherpa assistance.
It was dream of his father for 🇵🇰
Pure alpinist #Everest2023 pic.twitter.com/lsJ9e651fG

— Sajid Ali Sadpara (@sajid_sadpara) May 14, 2023

It was his fifth such summit as he has already ascended K2 (8,611m), Gasherbrum-I (8,080m) and Gasherbrum-II (8,035m), in Pakistan and Manaslu (8,163m) in Nepal without supplemental oxygen.

Sadapara aims to climb all 14 eight-thousander mountains without supplemental oxygen.

His father Ali Sadpara lost his life along with Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohrra while attempting to summit the K2 during the winter season in 2021.