Mountaineer Naila Kayani on Sunday scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, becoming the second female Pakistani climber to achieve the feat.
Kayani also became the first Pakistani female to climb five peaks above 8,000 meters, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Samina Baig, a high-altitude female mountaineer from Gilgit-Baltistan, made history in 2013 when she became the first Pakistani woman to ascend Mount Everest.
Originally from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Kayani lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with her family. An avid mountaineer, her wedding photo in 2017 was taken at the base of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Those photos later went viral on social media.
Kayani surprised everyone in 2021 by climbing the 8,035-meter Gasherbrum II peak just a few months after giving birth.
Speaking to VOA, Karar Haidari, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said Kayani is a very brave woman who hopes to summit each of the 14 tallest peaks in the world above 8,000 meters as soon as is feasible.
Haidari said Kayani also conquered the 8,068-meter-high Gasherbrum I peak in July 2022 and the 8,091-meter-high Annapurna peak soon afterward.
Haidari said renowned Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Sadpara and British-Pakistani female climber Nadia Azad also scaled Mount Everest on Monday. Sadpara climbed Mount Everest without the need of oxygen.
Kayani told VOA in 2021 that she had always wanted to be a mountaineer but was unable to do so because she did not live in a mountainous environment. She said it is easier for people living in mountainous regions to climb mountains compared with those who are raised in cities.
Kayani said she faced multiple challenges while summiting K2, because the mountain is very steep and there are no places to rest or drink water.
When asked about a terrifying moment she had while climbing, Kayani recalled a moment in 2022 when she was standing on the blue ice at the K2 bottleneck with other climbers. A terrifying feeling washed over her: What would happen if she did not return to her daughters alive?
Kayani said as soon as she faced the peak in front of her, all of her anxieties vanished, and she decided to not allow fear to control her ascent.
This story originated in VOA’s Urdu Service.
