Climber Sirbaz gears up to make history

Continuing his ‘#Mission14’, Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan is set to become the first Pakistani in history to summit more than eight of the world’s highest 14 peaks measuring over 8,000m high. Speaking at a news conference here at a local hotel on Friday, Sirbaz announced his departure for Nepal to attempt Mount Dhaulagiri, which measures 8,187 m (26,795ft) above sea level and is the world’s seventh-highest peak.

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“Dhaulagiri, which forms part of the Himalayas mountain range, is widely known as one of the hardest peaks to climb due to the peak’s steep sides and bitterly cold climate,” he said.

Sirbaz was however confident of his chances, being on a prolific climbing streak already having summited Mount Everest (highest peak of the world) and Mount Annapurna (tenth highest peak) in quick succession earlier this year.

Sirbaz said he was looking forward to his expedition and reaching closer to the dream of his mentor Ali Sadpara, who had the similar dream of scaling the 14 highest peaks but tragically lost his life earlier this year during a winter expedition to K-2. He also urged the people to focus on other sports as well besides cricket.

“The equipment for climbing is very expensive therefore more sponsors need to come forward and support climbing,” he said, adding that there was also a need for health insurance and free education in this specific field for climbers.