Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Sunday became the second Pakistani woman to climb the 8,848-metre-tall Mount Everest — the highest mountain in the world — situated in Nepal.

Separately, climber Sajid Ali Sadpara made history by becoming the first Pakistani to summit Mount Everest without the support of high-altitude porters and supplemental oxygen.

Both the mountaineers started their journey towards the highest peak in the world on Saturday evening.

According to Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary General Karar Haidri, Kiani is the first Pakistani woman climber to summit four peaks over 8,000m and the second to scale the mighty Everest. The first Pakistani woman to climb Everest was Samina Baig in 2013.

Congratulating her in a tweet today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Kiani has made Pakistan proud.

“Through her passion for mountaineering and amazing achievements to her credit, she has reinforced the notion that our women are capable of achieving anything. My heartiest congratulations to her & best wishes for her future plans,” he added.

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 summited Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in 2021 and ascended Gasherbrum-I (8,068m), K2, and Annapurna peaks. Kiani had also climbed the world’s second tallest peak K2 shortly after Samina Baig, who was the first Pakistani woman to do so.

Sajid Ali Sadpara

Talking about Sajid Ali Sadpara, the Alpine Club secretary said: “Sajid summited Mount Everest on 14 May 2023 without O2 and the support of sherpa.

“Now on his way down to C4. What an incredible achievement for Pakistan,” he added.

In a tweet, Sajid said that summitting Everest sans support was the dream of his father, the late Muhammad Ali Sadparara.

This type of ascent that Sajid chose, where climbers are not supported by high-altitude porters from base camp to the summit, is called Alpine style. During this summit, mountaineers manage everything — carrying food, tent, ropes, and setting routes — themselves.

Following Sadpara’s latest feat, Kathmandu-based Mingma G, who has scaled Everest six times, congratulated him in a tweet.

Sajid has already summited several high peaks, including 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. His ultimate goal is to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without the aid of supplemental oxygen.