Dubai-based Pakistani woman is the first international climber to summit Everest this year

A Dubai-based Pakistani woman became the first international climber to summit Mount Everest in 2023.

Naila Kiani, a mother of two and a banker, reached the summit on Sunday at 8.02am. She also became the second Pakistani woman to scale the world’s highest peak. She was accompanied by Pasang Temba Sherpa. The first female mountaineer from Pakistan to summit the peak is Samina Baig, who achieved the feat back in 2013.

By summitting Everest, Kiani achieved climbing five peaks of more than 8,000m height, all within two years. Last year, she became the first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Annapurna 1, the world’s 10th highest mountain, situated in Gandaki province in Nepal.

She summited Gasherbrum-II (8,035m), in 2021, and Gasherbrum-I (8,068m) and K2 (8,611), the world’s second-highest mountain in July 2022. She climbed K2 shortly after Samina Baig’s feat, who is the first Pakistani woman to do so.

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