NAILA Kiani continues to go from summit to summit; her latest ascent — of Broad Peak — making her the first woman from Pakistan to climb all eight-thousanders in the country. Two weeks after summiting Nanga Parbat, Naila became the first woman from Pakistan to stand atop Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest peak 8,051m above sea level in the heart of the Karakoram range. Add to the fact that she’s a mother of two, and it’s a remarkable achievement. The 37-year-old is also the first Pakistani woman to summit eight peaks above 8,000m in the world. She is rightly being hailed as a trailblazer for women mountaineers in the country after surpassing Samina Baig. What makes it even more incredible is that the Dubai-based former banker only started climbing two years ago, just seven months after giving birth to her second daughter. She even held her bridal photoshoot at the K-2 base camp in 2018 and is part of the new wave of mountaineers from Pakistan who have made a name for themselves in a very short time.

Among those mountaineers is also young Shehroze Kashif, who at 21 is looking to become the youngest in the world to climb all eight-thousanders. It’s not only a race against time for him but, unlike Naila who has a permanent sponsor, he also faces a challenge in raising the funds. He has three more peaks to climb, which is not easy as mountaineers must brave freezing temperatures, harsh winds and deadly drops to achieve their feats. Despite having funding, though, it hasn’t been easy for Naila either, who has had to face online trolls in Pakistan who didn’t rate her as a climber. But she’s defied them all to stand atop some of the world’s tallest peaks and is now aiming for more in her quest to become the first woman mountaineer from Pakistan to climb all eight-thousanders in the world.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2023