KARACHI: Two Pakistani female mountaineers created history on Friday morning by reaching the top of the 2nd highest peak of the world, the 8,611-metre high K2.
Samina Baig summited the mighty K2 along with her team members and became the first ever Pakistani woman to scale the mountain. Following Samina’s summit, Naila Kiani reached the top, becoming the second.
No other Pakistani woman could achieve this feat before.
Several other climbers from various countries, including female climbers from Oman, Lebanon, Iran, and Taiwan summited the peak on Friday morning.
The summit push started late last night as soon as rope fixing teams completed their jobs and the first group reached atop K2 at around 3am in the night.
The team of Pakistan’s 31-year-old climber Samina Baig confirmed that she, along with other Pakistani mountaineers, summitted K2 at 7:42am PST on Friday.
“We are extremely proud to announce that Samina Baig with her strong Pakistani team, successfully summited the world's most fascinating and dangerous mountain known as the savage mountain — the world's second and Pakistan's tallest mountain K2 8,611meters this morning at 7:42am,” read a statement by Samina’s team at the ground.
“Grateful and blessed that K2 allowed her to stand atop this incredible mountain,” the statement added.
Samina Baig comes from a remote village of Gilgit valley Shimshal. In 2013, she became the first Pakistani woman to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.
The other members to climb with Samina include Eid Muhammad, Bulbul Karim, Ahmed Baig, Rizwan Dad, Waqar Ali and Akber Hussain Sadpara.
Less than three hours after Samina’s feat, Pakistan’s Naila Kiani reached the top.
“Yes, Allhamdolillah,” Naila texted this correspondent, via a satellite communication device confirming her summit.
Pakistan’s Sohail Sakhi and Sirbaz Ali Khan also summited K2 along with Naila.
Target to summit all 14 8,000ers in 6 months
Over 50 climbers completed their K2 summits on Friday morning. This includes Norway’s Kristin Harila who reached the top of K2 between 2:30am and 4am and has since returned to a safe camp.
Harila is aiming to summit all 14 8000ers in six months. This was her 8th such summit in less than 3 months. If she succeeds, she will be the first woman in the world to summit all top peaks in one season.
She was joined by USA’s Kristin A. Bennett, Norway’s Frank Loke and Canada’s Liliya Ianovskia. They were supported by a team of mountain guides that include Pakistan’s Fida Ali along with Nepal’s Pema Chhiring Sherpa, Dawa Ongju Sherpa, Pemba Tasi Sherpa, Dawa Dorchi Sherpa, Dawa Wongju Sherpa and Pemba Dorchee Sherpa.
In another development, 29-year-old Tseng Ko-Erh, who is also known as Grace Tseng, summited the mountain without using supplementary oxygen and has become the youngest female in the world to do so. She is now also the first Taiwanese ever to have stood atop K2.
Her expedition organisers announced that their three-member team has just made it to the top of the world's second highest mountain. They reached the summit of Mount K2 at 7:35am Pakistani time.
Two other members of the team were Nima Gyalzen Sherpa and Ningma Dorje Tamang of Nepal.
Iran’s Afsane Hesamifard and Oman’s Nadhira Alharthy became the first ever female climbers from their respective countries to summit the K2. They were part of the Seven Summits Treks team and reached the top just a few hours after the rope fixing. The team also included a Chinese female climber, He Jing, who summitted the mountain without supplementary oxygen.
The other members of the Seven Summits team included Poland’s Monika Witkowska, Russia’s Vladimir Kotlyar, and Nepal’s Mingtemba Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa, Fura Tshering Sherpa and Ngima Sherpa.
In another group to summit K2 on Friday morning, Nelly Attar — an Arab Lebanese woman — successfully scaled the K2. She was accompanied by America’s Terray Ellington Sylvester, Argentina’s Claudio Cocho Javier and Estonia’s Krisli Melesk.
Along with them, Pakistan’s Inayat Ali also climbed K2. Nepali Aang Phurba Sherpa, Siddhi Bahadur Tamang, Dorji Gyljen Sherpa, Kamdorji Sherpa, Lakhpa Wongchu Sherpa, Mingdongji Sherpa, Lakpa Bhote, Rinji Sherpa, Temba Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa — who all were part of Madison Mountaineering — also summitted K2 early morning today.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani climber Ahmed Hussain made history when he summited G2 in just 14 hours from the base camp.
Another female climber, Andorra's Stefi Troguet, also reached the top of K2. She summited the second highest peak without supplementary oxygen. She sent a text via satellite communication to confirm her summit at 10:45am.
"I can't believe it. I'm on top of K2 without no O2. The hardest thing I've ever done." she said.
"This summit is for Sergi, Ali and Antonios," the climber said while dedicating the summit to the late Sergi Mingote, Ali Sadpara, and Antonio Atanas — the fallen heroes of the K2 winter expedition.
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