Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Monday became the first Pakistani woman to climb the 8,091-metre tall Annapurna peak — the world’s tenth-highest peak situated in Nepal.
She was accompanied by climber Shehroze Kashif — who has attained the title of being the youngest Pakistani mountaineer to ascend the peak — and Nepalese sherpas.
Both climbers and the Seven Summit Treks (SST) team successfully ascended the mountain between 6:30am and 7:30am earlier today. They had started the summit push of the peak on Sunday evening with the SST team.
In a social media post today, SST Director Chhang Dawa Sherpa said that a team of sherpas and climbing members successfully made the ascent of Mt Annapurna this morning, adding that three sherpas and three climbers stood on the top between 6:30am and 7:30am.
He also listed the six summiteers: Naila Kiani and Shehroze Kashif from Pakistan; Arjun Vajpai from India; and Lakpa Nurbu Sherpa, Tashi Sherpa, and Lakpa Sherpa from Nepal.
According to Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary General Karar Haidri, Kiani is the first Pakistani woman climber to summit four peaks over 8,000m.
Kiani is a Dubai-based Pakistani banker, an amateur boxer and a mother of two daughters. She had first gained prominence after images of her wedding shoot at K2 Basecamp circulated on social media in 2018.
She has also summited Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in 2021 and ascended Gasherbrum-I (8,068m) and K2 in July 2022.
Kiani had also climbed the world’s second tallest peak K2 shortly after Samina Baig, who was the first Pakistani woman to do so.
