Naila Kiani achieves another feat with Mount Makalu summit
She became the first Pakistani women to scale all 11 “eight-thousanders”
Pakistan’s renowned mountaineer Naila Kiani added one more achievement to her astounding career by summiting Mount Makalu, she confirmed on her social media accounts.
Naila climbed through the night and finally summit Makalu, the fifth highest peak in the world at 8,485 metres at around 8:50am (PST) and became the first Pakistani woman to do so.
In a statement, the mountaineer expressed gratitude to her countrymen for the prayers and good wishes and also thanked Sherpa Gelgen Dai from Imagine Nepal, who supported her every step of the way, making the achievement possible.
The mountaineer became the first Pakistani woman to visit Nanga Parbat last year, which is known as the ‘Killer Mountain’ due to its high fatality rate at its 8,126-metre peak. The mountain has a daunting ascent along with the risk of unstable glaciers, avalanches and storms.
It must be noted that she also scaled Mount Lhotse in Nepal in May last year, which is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga.
She was also awarded the third-highest civilian award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, in recognition of her achievement of successfully summiting the world's highest peak, Mount Everest in May 2023.
It is worth mentioning that Kiani's mountaineering prowess is not limited to the said sport as being an aerospace engineer and a mother of two, she has studied at the University of London and has held a prominent position as an associate vice president at a UK-based multinational bank.
