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Who Is Naila Kiani? First Pakistani Woman To Climb Manaslu

Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to successfully climb the 8,163-meter-tall Manaslu Peak, which is the eighth-highest mountain in the world located in Western Nepal.

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Ritika Joshi
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After climbing K2, mountaineer Naila Kiani has set a record by becoming the first Pakistani woman to successfully climb the 8,163-meter-tall Manaslu Peak, which is the eighth-highest mountain in the world located in Western Nepal.
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Naila Kiani is a banker by profession based in Dubai. She is also a boxer, rock climber, and mountaineer. In 2021, she set a record by becoming the first Pakistani woman to climb an 8,000-metre mountain. She climbed Gasherbrum-II, the world’s thirteenth-highest mountain at 8,035 metres.

The mother of two has spoken about how she is often asked whether she finds it difficult to leave her children behind for expeditions that can take over a month. Kiani said, “We don’t ask this question from men”. She added that mountaineer Sirbaz Khan accompanied her on the Gasherbrum-II expedition and his daughter was born a day after hers, however, nobody asked him if it was difficult to leave his children.

Who Is Naila Kiani?

  • Naila Kiani is a banker and mountaineer. She made her first major trek in 2018 at the K2 base camp trek and her marriage took place in the K2 base camp.
  • Kiani is also a trained boxer and rock climber. She began to think about mountaineering seriously following the K2 base camp trek. Kiani was training to climb mountains and then she got pregnant. Following that, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed her expedition.
  • When she left for the base camp for Gasherbrum-II, her daughter was six months old. Kiani summited Gasherbrum-II a month and a half later.
  • Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to climb a mountain that was 8,000 meters high when she climbed Gasherbrum-II. The expedition also marked Kiani’s first summit.
  • She then decided to attempt to climb the world’s second highest peak K2. She was sponsored by Bilquis and Abdul Razak Dawood (BARD) Foundation for the expedition.
  • Kiani became the second Pakistani woman to summit K2. She is also the first Pakistani woman to achieve the feat in the first attempt.
  • Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to reach the peak on July 22, 2022, at 7:42 am. Kiani reached the peak less than three hours later at 10:30 am and became the second woman to reach the K2 summit.

Suggested Reading: Meet Poorna Malavath, Mountaineer Scales 7 Highest Mountains In 7 Continents

Female Mountaineers Naila Kiani
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