KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace mountaineer Sirbaz Khan, on Monday, became the first-ever Pakistani to successfully summit 13 peaks of over 8,000m by scaling 8,188m tall Cho Oyu, which is the world’s sixth highest peak.
With this feat, Sirbaz is now just one climb away from completing his “mission 14”.
Expedition organisers ‘Imagine Nepal’ announced on Monday afternoon that Sirbaz and others in the team, including Naila Kiani, reached the summit at 12:30pm Nepal Time.
Meanwhile, Sirbaz’s team has also confirmed the expedition.
"We had been waiting for this day for so long. Finally, the green flag is raised for the first time on an 8,000m peak in Tibet. Sirbaz Khan summits Cho Oyu and leads the Pakistani Mountaineering community to another milestone,” said Saad Munawar, manager of Sirbaz.
“Sirbaz started his summit push from C1 last night and reached the summit today in the afternoon without using supplementary oxygen. He has now become the first and only Pakistani to summit 13×8000m peaks and the first and only Pakistani to summit 10×8000m peaks without using supplementary oxygen," he added.
Sirbaz will now move to Shishapangma, which stands at 8027m, to complete his mission of scaling all 14 peaks of over 8,000m.