A Dubai-based mountaineer has become the first Pakistani woman to scale eight of the world’s highest mountains after reaching the summit of Broad Peak, on Pakistan's border with China
Naila Kiani, 37, reached the summit of the mountain in the Gasherbrum massif of Baltistan on Thursday. It is one of the world's 14 mountains that are higher than 8,000 metres.
Kiani had already climbed the nearby K2, as well as Mount Everest, Lhotse and Annapurna in Nepal, and Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I and II, also in Pakistan.
Broad Peak is the 12th highest mountain in the world and adds to an impressive list of summits for Ms Kiani, who took up climbing two years ago, just months after giving birth to her second daughter and quitting her job in finance.
With her latest feat, she completed three records in a single day – becoming the first Pakistani woman to reach the 8,051-metre summit of Broad Peak, as well as the first to climb all of Pakistan’s mountains above 8,000 metres, and the first to climb eight out of 14 of the world’s highest mountains.
Broad Peak was first climbed in 1957 and is considered one of the most challenging ascents in mountaineering, due to its treacherous upper sections and an unforgiving 1.5-kilometre summit ridge that is particularly dangerous in poor weather. It has claimed the lives of 20 mountaineers to date.
Notoriously dangerous
“The biggest challenge was at the summit, and during the descent when the weather turned really bad,” Ms Kiani told The National from the base camp of K2 as she continued her descent and long journey home to Dubai.
“Broad Peak is notoriously dangerous on descent. It was a pitch dark night, poor visibility, winds, snow and sleet, deep snow, no ropes, drifts and huge seracs.”
Seracs are tall, unstable pillars of ice that can break unexpectedly, injuring or even killing mountaineers.
“My guide and I were the only ones above Camp Three,” Ms Kiani added.
“It was super hard as we got lost but somehow made it to Camp Three from where we could use the ropes to descend.
“The forecast showed good weather but on 8,000-metre peaks sometimes the forecast goes wrong, so we unexpectedly had really bad weather.
“Out of the eight peaks, it was the second time we got stuck in bad weather but this time it was only two of us on the mountain so we had no help.
“It was just me and my guide above Camp Four, above 7,000 metres.
“There were a few other climbers who left later than we did and they experienced the bad weather as soon as they started, so they all abandoned their plan to summit.”
Ms Kiani was supported by the Bard Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports individuals in achieving their goals.
After checking in with her husband and two daughters aged two and four, Ms Kiani is already thinking of her next challenge, to climb the remaining six peaks over 8,000 metres.
“We don’t have good internet here so I have just spoken with my husband on WhatsApp,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to hugging my daughters and husband and going away with them to Europe next month.”
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