Naila Kiani becomes first Pakistani woman to summit Nepal’s Annapurna I

Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Monday became the first Pakistani woman to climb the 8,091-metre tall Annapurna peak — the world’s tenth-highest peak situated in Nepal.

She was accompanied by climber Shehroze Kashif — who has attained the title of being the youngest Pakistani mountaineer to ascend the peak — and Nepalese sherpas.

Both climbers and the Seven Summit Treks (SST) team successfully ascended the mountain between 6:30am and 7:30am earlier today. They had started the summit push of the peak on Sunday evening with the SST team.

According to Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary General Karar Haidri, Kiani is the first Pakistani woman climber to summit four peaks over 8,000m.

Kiani is a Dubai-based Pakistani banker, an amateur boxer and a mother of two daughters. She had first gained prominence after images of her wedding shoot at K2 Basecamp circulated on social media in 2018.

She has also summited Gasherbrum-II (8,035m) in 2021 and ascended Gasherbrum-I (8,068m) and K2 in July 2022.

Kiani had also climbed the world’s second tallest peak K2 shortly after Samina Baig, who was the first Pakistani woman to do so.