Naila Kiani becomes first Pakistani woman to summit Nepal’s Annapurna I

Mountaineer Naila Kiani on Monday successfully scaled the Annapurna I in Nepal, making her the first Pakistani woman to achieve this milestone.

According to a tweet by Everest Today, Kiani achieved this feat earlier this morning.

In August last year, Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to summit three peaks above 8,000 metres.

She reached the top of Gasherbrum-1 – the 11th highest mountain in the world – at 7:45am today, despite extreme weather conditions between the C2 and C3 points.

Read Nepali Sherpa sets climbing record on Pakistan mountain

The Dubai-based banker summited K2, the second-highest peak in the world in July 2022. Prior to that, Kiani had ascended the world's 13th-highest mountain, Gasherbrum-II in 2021.

She is a daughter, a wife and a mother and has no background in mountaineering. In her very first attempt at climbing K2, Naila became one of the first two women to climb one of the most dangerous peaks in the world.

In 2022, Pakistan also celebrated Samina Baig becoming the first woman from the country to summit K2. The 31-year-old had reached the top of the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) peak as part of a seven-member local team and was followed hours later by Kiani.