Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Sunday became the first Pakistani woman to summit 11 peaks above 8,000 metres in the world, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP).
Kiani achieved this as she successfully climbed Nepal’s Makalu Peak, the world’s fifth-tallest mountain at 8,485 metres tall.
“Naila [Kiani] summits Makalu, becoming the first woman in Pakistan’s history to summit 11 x 8,000-metre peaks,” the ACP wrote in a post on Facebook today.
“She now holds the record as the fastest Pakistani — both male and female — to have summited 11 of the 8,000-metre peaks, accomplished in under three years,” said the statement, which quoted ACP Secretary Karrar Haidri.
“This remarkable feat also makes her the first Pakistani woman to have summited this incredibly difficult mountain,” Haidri further highlighted.
The ACP secretary noted that “after a challenging climb through the night, Naila has achieved another historic milestone by successfully summiting Makalu” at approximately 9:35am Nepal time (8:50am Pakistan time).
“Naila is grateful for all the prayers and wishes, and she gives special thanks to everyone,” the statement said. “She also thanks Sherpa Gelgen Dai from Imagine Nepal, who has supported Naila every step of the way, making this achievement possible,” Haidri added.
Kiani has a bunch of mountaineering feats to her name.
In April last year, she became the first Pakistani woman to climb Nepal’s Annapurna peak, the world’s 10th-highest peak standing 8,091m tall. The next month, she went on to summit Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, becoming the second Pakistani woman to do so.
In July, Kiani and Samina Baig attained the feat of becoming the first Pakistani women to climb the world’s ninth-highest peak, the 8,125m-tall Nanga Parbat. The same month, she became the first Pakistani woman to summit Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest mountain at 8,051m.
Months later, Kiani and Sirbaz Khan became the first Pakistani duo to summit the 8,201m-tall Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest peak in China’s Tibet.
“I am sharing my achievements to show that no matter who you are … you can accomplish your dreams”, Kiani said in a video posted on ACP’s Facebook account days ago.
She shared her accolades, including being an aerospace engineer, an amateur boxer and a mother to two toddlers.
Emphasising that education was the key to her getting to where she is now, she also called on the prime minister and chief ministers to focus on girls’ education in Pakistan.