Naila Kiani becomes first Pakistani woman to scale Broad Peak

KARACHI: In a major achievement, Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to scale all 8,000-metre peaks in the country after she successfully ascended Broad Peak — the 12th highest peak in the world at 8,047 metres — on Thursday.

She has scaled 8,000-metre peaks worldwide out of a total of 14.

“Naila has successfully ascended Pakistan’s fifth and final 8,000-metre peak at 2:03am today [Thursday],” Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) Secretary Karrar Haidri said.

“She is also the first Pakistani woman to ascend Broad Peak, complete the climb of all five 8,000-metre peaks in Pakistan, and scale eight 8,000-metre peaks worldwide,” he added.

Mount Everest, K2, Lhotse, Annapurna, Gasherbrum 1 and 2, and Nanga Parbat are among the mountains she has climbed before.

She was also awarded the third-highest civilian award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, in recognition of her achievement of successfully summiting the world's highest peak, Mount Everest in May.

President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi also lauded Naila after her impressive achievement.

Earlier, another Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Sadpara summited Broad Peak without any help of supplementary oxygen and Sherpas, local support, on Wednesday.

Sadpara has now climbed all five eight-thousanders in Pakistan without any help of supplementary oxygen.

It must be noted that Sajid, son of the legendary mountaineer Ali Sadpara, aims to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without the aid of supplemental oxygen.

He successfully climbed Nanga Parbat without the help of supplementary oxygen and Sherpas in June.

He has also summited K2 (8,611m), Gasherbrum-I (8,080m), and Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in Pakistan, as well as Manaslu (8,163m) in Nepal, without supplemental oxygen.

Sajid has also achieved the unique feat of climbing the world’s highest peak Mount Everest without the support of supplementary oxygen and assistance from Sherpas in May 2023.