Pakistani high-altitude mountaineer Naila Kiani is the first mountaineer from Pakistan to have climbed eight peaks higher than 8,000 metres.
Kiani is the first woman from Pakistan to summit each of the five peaks that rise beyond 8,000 metres. Kiani is also the fastest Pakistani (male or female) to climb all 8,000-metre peaks in Pakistan as well as eight peaks above 8,000 metres in two years.
Formerly a banker in Dubai, the determined climber has etched her name in Pakistan’s climbing history with an astounding feat, becoming the first and only Pakistani woman to do so with eight total climbs.
Career
A video of a woman wearing a bridal jorra and standing in front of the massive K2 in Gilgit Baltistan’s mountains while being surrounded by porters who were singing wedding songs went viral on social media in 2018. Naila Kiani was that woman. And this was her first major trek.
Fast forward three years, Naila has become the first Pakistani woman to reach the top of Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II (8,035m), which is an 8,000-meter peak. She summited alongside Sirbaz Khan, who was making his seventh attempt at an 8,000-metre mountain, and Ali Raza Sadpara, a local hero who has now successfully climbed 8,000-metre summits 16 times in total, more than any other Pakistani living or dead.
Kiani became one of just two Pakistani women, together with Samina Baig, to climb the 8,611-metre-high K2 – the world’s second highest mountain in July 2022.
The peak of 8,080-metre-tall Gasherbrum I, the eleventh-highest mountain in the world, was ascended by Kiani in August 2022.
The 8,091-metre Annapurna, the tenth-highest mountain in the world located in Nepal, was conquered by Kiani in April 2023, making her the first woman from Pakistan to do so. Kiani and Shehroze Kashif were left stranded at Camp 4 on Annapurna after ascending the mountain with the Seven Summit Treks team. Both Pakistani climbers were rescued and safely evacuated to the base camp after complaining of mountain sickness.
Kiani ascended the 8,848-metre Mount Everest in May 2023 to become the second Pakistani woman to do it. Later in May 2023, Kiani accomplished the 8,516-metre Mount Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak in the world, becoming the first woman from Pakistan to do it.
The 8,125-metre-tall Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest peak in the world, was climbed by Kiani in July 2023, making her the first woman from Pakistan to do so. Later in July 2023, Kiani became the first woman from Pakistan to reach the summit of the world’s No. 12 highest peak, Broad Peak, which is 8,051 metres high.
The eighth-highest mountain in the world, 8,163-metre-tall Manaslu peak in Nepal, was successfully ascended by Kiani in September 2023.
In October 2023, Kiani became the first female Pakistani to reach the top of Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest peak in the world at 8,188 metres. After surviving an avalanche near the mountain, she attempted to climb Shishapangma in Tibet.
Awards and honours
Kiani was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz by Pakistan’s President, Arif Alvi, in August 2023.
Trivia
Naila enjoys athletics and is a trained boxer, rock climber, and runner. But her transformation into an accomplished mountain climber happened rapidly and unexpectedly.
When she set out for base camp, her daughter was six months old, and she was 7.5 months old when she reached the top of Gasherbrum II.
There were at least five other Pakistani women climbing other 8,000-metre summits concurrently with her ascent of G2. They failed to succeed. When Naila arrived at base camp, she found out that she’d set a record: she was the first Pakistani woman to climb an 8,000-metre mountain in Pakistan.
Naila said in an interview with Geo News that if the government is serious about mountaineering in Pakistan, it must enhance infrastructure and provide more assistance for the country’s mountaineers. She also emphasised the need for better mountain rescue services in Pakistan.
Setting an example for her girls is one of Naila’s goals. I want to convey to them that nothing is impossibly difficult to do in this world.
Kiani advised ambitious female mountaineers to always keep their ambitions alive and set high standards.
Never give up because nothing in this world is insurmountable, she advised.