GILGIT: Pakistani climber Sajid Sadpara alongside Russian climber Alina Pekova summited Broad Peak, the world’s 12th highest mountain at 8,051 metres above sea level, without supplemental oxygen and porter assistance in a single push from the base camp.
Separately, a team comprising Gina Marie, Pasdawa Sherpa and Nawang Sherpa from Nepal, managed to reach the summit of the world’s 13th tallest peak Gasherbum II at 6am on Wednesday.
A Polish climber Andrzej Bargiel also summited Gasherbrum II at around 4pm on Wednesday. He previously skied down K2 in 2018.
Ms Marie has now conquered 11 of the world’s tallest peaks, and she was congratulated by the tour operator for her historic success.
Meanwhile, Mr Sadpara, who was previously a part of K2 cleanup drive, also managed to climb the last mountain of the country.
Mr Sadpara is first Pakistani to scale eight peaks above 8,000 metres — including Everest, K2, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Gasherbrum-I, Gasherbrum-II, Broad Peak and Manaslu — without supplemental oxygen and porter support.
Karar Haidri, Alpine Club of Pakistan’s secretary, told Dawn that Pakistani female climber Naila Kiani also arrived at camp 3 of Broad Peak on Wednesday.
Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2023
