Pakistani climbers Naila, Shehroze set to scale 8000m peaks in Nepal
Staff Writer
Lahore: Pakistan’s top climber Naila Kiani this week announced that she will be climbing Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse in Nepal in April while Shehroze Kashif said that he will climb Mount Annapurna and Mount Dhaulagiri in Nepal.
The duo aims to raise the Pakistani flag at the top of these 8,000-meter peaks. During a media briefing held at the Bilquis and Abdul Razak Dawood (BARD) Foundation office, Naila and Shehroze (virtually) were joined by Abdul Razak Dawood, the founder of the BARD Foundation, and other officials.
They stated that April and May are the best months to scale 8,000-meter peaks, that’s why they have picked the month of April for their expedition.
They also expressed their gratitude towards the BARD Foundation for their generous support that will help them hold the Pakistani flag high and promote a soft and positive image of the country across the world. Naila Kiani, who is also a boxer and rock climber, has already summited K2 in her first attempt, as well as Gasherbrum-I and Gasherbrum-II. After these achievements, she is now geared up to scale Mount Everest in April.
She said: “I have always been a passionate mountain lover, and this love for mountains, along with a group of mountaineers during my visit to K2 base camp, motivated me to climb the 8,000-meter peaks in Pakistan. “I am currently captivated by the challenge of scaling Mount Everest, and once I achieve this feat, I have ambitious plans to climb the remaining 8,000-meter-plus peaks, including Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak, in order to fulfill my dream of climbing all the 8000-meter peaks in Pakistan and Nepal,” she confidently asserted. Shehroze Kashif, a 21-yearold mountaineer, is the youngest person in the world to summit ten peaks over 8,000 meters. He has also scaled all five 8,000-meter peaks in Pakistan. He said: “Pakistan is a very rich country as far as tourism and mountaineering are concerned.
The dire need of the hour is to provide the best facilities in this regard as it will attract more and more foreigners to come and scale Pakistan’s five big 8,000-meter mountains, which will boost its tourism, economy, and create new job opportunities for locals.”
Both Naila and Shehroze urged the government and the Alpine Club of Pakistan to support Pakistani mountaineers in scaling big mountains in and outside the country. They believe that through proper patronage of the government and the federation, tourism and mountaineering in Pakistan will flourish rapidly and help in strengthening the country’s economy, while also showing the world the positive face of Pakistan. Abdul Razak Dawood, the founder of the BARD Foundation, said:
“The basic purpose of BARD Foundation was to help our youth in education, but in 2019, we decided to support sports too. A good number of sports persons, especially in tennis, are being sponsored by BARD, who are performing well at national and international levels. We are also thinking about sponsoring those players and teams, who can win international medals for Pakistan in near future. We want to strengthen sports at grassroots level that can help produce future champions for Pakistan.”
