GILGIT: An inquiry committee constituted by the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP) has announced the completion of an independent, impartial, and evidence-based review of summit claims related to two Pakistani expeditions to Tirich Mir (7,708m), situated in Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during the 2025 climbing season.
The inquiry committee declared that renowned climbers Sirbaz Khan and Abid Baig are the first Pakistanis to have verifiably reached the true summit of Tirich Mir in 2025. A local expedition led by Sirbaz Khan from Hunza had claimed to successfully climbed Tirich Mir (7,708m), the highest peak in the Hindu Kush, on August 20, 2025.
Earlier, another local expedition comprising climbers Abdul Joshi, Hameed Ullah, Faryad Karim, Mansoor Karim and Nisar Ahmed, all hailing from the village of Shimshal in Gojal, had also claimed to have summited the peak on August 1, 2025. However, controversy later arose over the authenticity of Abdul Joshi and his team’s summit claim.
According to a press release issued by ACP Senior Vice President Karrar Haidri, the inquiry was conducted by a specially constituted committee under the direction of the ACP Executive Board. The committee comprised Col (R) Sher Khan (chairman), Naila Kiani (member), and Tayyab Syed (member).
The body examined summit photographs, GPS data, official expedition reports, and statements from expedition leaders. Following this review, the ACP confirmed that Sirbaz Khan and Abid Baig are the first Pakistani climbers to have verifiably reached the true summit of Tirich Mir in 2025.
The expedition led by Sirbaz Khan submitted credible, coherent, and independently verifiable evidence confirming a successful ascent on August 19, 2025. The inquiry further concluded that the expedition led by Abdul Joshi did not reach the true summit on August 1, 2025.
According to the report, the team reached a false summit, which was believed at the time to be the true summit due to severe weather conditions and the absence of an altitude-verification device. The committee found that the evidence submitted was insufficient to conclusively establish that the true sum-mit had been reached.
Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026
