GILGIT: Mountaineer Sirbaz Khan from Gilgit-Baltistan became the first Pakistani on Friday to have climbed nine of the world’s 14 highest peaks above 8,000 metres after he scaled the 8,167-metre Dhaulagiri Mountain in Nepal.

Alpine Club of Pakistan secretary Karrar Haidri congratulated Mr Sirbaz on his achievement.

Sirbaz, 32, hailing from Aliabad area of Hunza district, aims to become the first Pakistani to climb all the world’s 14 highest peaks

He was part of a 19-member autumn expedition, 2021, organised by Seven Summits Trek, a trekking company.

According to the company officials, the climbers summited the world’s seventh highest peak on Friday morning with Sirbaz raising Pakistan’s national flag atop the mountain.

Sirbaz is first Pakistani to scale nine of world’s 14 highest mountains

In his communication with Dawn from Dhaulagiri on Thursday, Sirbaz had said he was determined to summit the peak on Friday morning.

Dhaulagiri, which forms part of the Himalayas mountain range, is widely known as one of the hardest peaks to climb due to its steep sides and bitterly cold climate.

As Sirbaz achieved the feat, congratulations poured in for him.

Sajid Ali Sadpara, the son of legendary mountaineer late Mohammad Ali Sadpara and a climber himself, tweeted: “Lots of congratulations to Sirbaz Khan to climb Dhaulagiri. After climbing Daulaghiri, he has become the first Pakistani to have summited nine mountains of over 8,000 metres.”

Mr Sirbaz began his climbing career in 2016. In 2019, he became the first Pakistani to summit Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest mountain at 8,516m in Nepal, without the use of supplementary oxygen.

He summited the 8,125m Nanga Parbat in 2017, 8,611m K2 in 2018 and 8,163m Broad Peak in 2019. Earlier this year, he climbed the 8,091m Anapurna Mountain, 8,848m Everest and 8,035m Gasherbrum II.

He had been accompanied by late Mohammad Ali Sadpara on four of these expeditions.

Before setting on the mission to summit Dhaulagiri earlier last month, he had said: “I am looking forward to this expedition and reaching closer to the dream of my mentor Ali Sadpara, who had the similar dream of scaling all the 14 highest peaks, but tragically lost his life earlier this year during a winter expedition on K2.”

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2021