Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman climber to summit five peaks of over 8,000m height when on Sunday she successfully ascended Mount Everest (8848m), the world’s tallest mountain, Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, Karrar Haidri said in a statement, reported 23NewsHD TV channel.
“She reached the summit point at 8:02 am,” he said.
A mother of two kids, Naila Kiani is a Dubai-based Pakistani banker and an amateur boxer.
She first rose to prominence after images of her wedding shoot at K2 Base Camp in 2018 circulated on social media. She summited Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in 2021, Gasherbrum-I (8,068m), K2 (8611) in July 2022 and Annapurna (8,091m) in 2023.
She had climbed K2, the world’s second tallest peak shortly after Samina Baig, who was the first Pakistani woman to achieve the feat.
Naila Kiani was the second woman from the country to scale the world's highest peak. The first female mountaineer from Pakistan to summit the peak is Samina Baig, who achieved the feat back in 2013.
On Kiani's part, she added another feather to her cap as she became the first non-Nepalese climber to scale Mount Everest this mountaineering season.
As per details, the mountaineer reached the pinnacle of the world's highest mountain, scaling up to 8,849 metres, at 8:02am on Sunday.
She is now aiming to scale 8,516m high Lhotse, the fourth tallest mountain in her current visit to Nepal.
A post shared on Naila’s official Facebook said “Naila Kiani 1st International Climber to summit Everest in 2023. Congratulations to Naila Kiani for successfully reaching the summit of Mount Everest! Your dedication, strength, and perseverance are truly inspiring. You are the leading 8000m+ Pakistani woman mountaineer. Your achievement is a testament to the human spirit. We are proud of you and pray for your safe descent!”
It also thanked sponsors for the financial help, saying without them this would not be possible.
She earlier reached the top of Annapurna I, setting a new record by scaling the tenth highest peak in the world. The Dubai-based banker is an avid sportsperson, a trained boxer, rock climber and runs for fun. In one of her previous interviews, Naila said she wanted to project a soft image of the South Asian nation through her adventures.
Naila Kiani summited the Mount Everest along with Nepali record-holding climber Pasang Temba Sherpa, who reached the top for 26th time.
Mountaineers rescued from Mount Annapurna
Kiani was among the two Pakistani mountaineers who had been rescued on their way down to Mount Annapurna last month. She was accompanied by the world's youngest mountaineer Shehroze Kashif on their ascent to 8,091m high peak located in Nepal.
A day after reaching the mountain top, the two climbers were rescued from the peak after their descent was disrupted due to bad weather.
With her ascent to Annapurna, Kiani became the first woman from a South Asian country to achieve the feat.
Reporter Rozina Ali