Dubai banker is first Pakistani woman to climb Gasherbrum-II

Dubai - Pakistan’s Naila Kiani aims to climb all top peaks in the world.

Dubai-based resident Naila Kiani has become the first Pakistani female mountaineer to successfully climb the world’s 13th highest peak Gasherbrum-II, which stands at more than 8,000 metres above sea level.

A banker by profession and a Dubai resident for five years, Kiani aims to conquer all the world’s top peaks in Nepal and Pakistan.

“Gasherbrum-II was my first expedition,” she told Khaleej Times in an interview. “I received a lot of appreciation as the 8,000-metre peak is very significant in mountaineering because the death zone starts above 8,000 level. It was risky and challenging mountaineering. No Pakistani female has ever climbed the top five peaks in Pakistan.”

Fourteen peaks are taller than 8,000 metres. Most of them are in Nepal and five are in Pakistan.

“Rather than having a record under my name, I was keen to conquer a challenging peak,” said the Dubai-based banker about her climb last month. “Initially, I was thinking of climbing the 7,000-metre peak as it takes four to five weeks. While an 8,000-metre peak takes five to six weeks. I thought why not attempt an 8,000-metre peak because it will give me an experience of what exactly the world’s top mountaineers endure when they attempt these high peaks that stand above the death zone,”

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com