Naila Kiani, the first female mountaineer from Pakistan to scale five 8-thousanders (peaks above 8,000 meters), now has her sights set on scaling all 14 peaks in the world.
Once a banker in Dubai, the avid climber has made a name for herself in the country’s mountaineering history with an extraordinary feat, as her total of eight climbers so far has made her the first and only Pakistani woman to do so. has made
The climber now hopes to summit the remaining six peaks. In an exclusive interview given to Geo News, she said that I want to climb as soon as possible and as much as possible.
Naila recently completed her feat of climbing the five highest peaks of Pakistani soil by climbing Nanga Parbat and Broad Peak.
The mother-of-two began her journey just two years ago when she became the first Pakistani woman to climb the 8,035-metre Gasherburm II – the world’s 13th highest mountain.
And what she tried as an experiment became his obsession and he never looked back after that.
Naila said, “Although I was always into sports, I never set out to become a mountaineer.
“The first idea came when I went to K2 base camp for trekking where I saw some climbers, I wanted to feel what it’s like to climb a mountain and what it takes to get to the top.”
Naila said, “I chose Gasherbram II as my first peak, I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to summit it, but it was successful and I climbed one peak after another. Tried to do it,” Naila said.
Since climbing G-II in 2021, Naila has summited K2, Gasherbaram I, Annapurna, Mount Everest, Lhotse, Nanga Parbat, and Broad Peak.
She was the first Pakistani woman to summit six of her eight climbs. Samina Baig – who hails from Hunza – was a few hours ahead of Naila on K2. Samina also climbed Everest in 2013.
However, Naila is now arguably the most successful female mountaineer in the country.
“It seems so unbelievable to me, sometimes I wonder how I did it all, how it all happened,” she said.
“It is an honor for me to be the first Pakistani woman to climb so many mountains,” Naila added.
Kiani said that the journey was not easy and she had to overcome many challenges but she always believed that there is nothing that cannot be achieved.
She added that leaving her two and four-year-old daughters behind is always difficult.
“It’s difficult, especially when I plan my expedition and to think that I’m going to leave them behind and go to the mountains, but when I’m in the mountains, whenever I’m on a difficult path, “Thoughts about my daughters become a huge source of energy for me,” She said.
Naila further highlighted that mountaineers in Pakistan do not get enough support from the public sector and infrastructure needs to be improved if the authorities are serious about mountaineering in Pakistan. She also emphasized on improving rescue facilities in Pakistani mountains.
Meanwhile, Naila’s goals include setting an example for her daughters. “I want to give them the message that nothing is impossible in this world, everything can be achieved.”
In her message to aspiring women climbers, Kiani said they should always keep their goals alive and aim higher.
“Never stop because there is no obstacle in this world that cannot be overcome,” She said.
