(Web Desk) - Sultana Nasab became the third female mountaineer from Pakistan to summit the towering K2 mountain this week.
Nasab was part of an expedition team to K2 mountain led by experienced Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan. The female mountaineer, who hails from upper Hunza in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, became the only woman member of the expedition to reach the summit on Monday.
Only two other Pakistani women climbers, Samina Baig and Naila Kiani, have previously summited the world’s second-highest mountain before.
“In a groundbreaking achievement Sultana Nasab from GB Pakistan a member of the first women’s expedition team successfully summited K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, on early Monday morning,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report.
The expedition included seven other climbers who successfully reached the summit, APP said.
These included Khan, the team leader, Abdul Joshi, Ejaz Karim, Faryad, Sherzad Karim, Ali Muhammad Sarpara, Muhammad Ali Sarpara and Sultana Nasab.
GB-based journalist Abdul Rehman Bukhari told APP Nasab’s achievement was a “historic” moment for Pakistani women, adding that it is a testament to the country’s potential of “producing world-class mountaineers.”
“Sultana’s achievement is a tribute to women empowerment and a testament to the fact that with determination and hard work, women can achieve anything they set their minds to,” Bukhari said.
Standing at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet) on the Pakistan-China border, K2 is 238 meters shorter than the world’s tallest mountain, Everest, but is considered more technically challenging — earning it the nickname “Savage Mountain.”
Mountaineers are especially wary of the “Bottleneck,” a challenging and hazardous section on K2’s climbing route. It is usually described as one of the most notorious and treacherous parts of the ascent by the mountaineering community.
Many climbers from around the world have died in their quest to summit the mountain.