Pakistan's mountaineers are on an onward and upward trajectory, women included. On July 22, 2022 Naila Kiani and Samina Baig gained immense popularity when they became the first Pakistani women to climb K2. Within a year, the pair has once again proved to be skilful mountaineers and become the first Pakistani women to climb the world’s ninth highest mountain peak, Nanga Parbat, on Sunday (July 2). The two women were accompanied by other team members including Rizwan Dad, Eid Muhammad, Ahmed Baig, Waqar Ali, Saeed Karim, Liaqat Karim, Wajid Nagri, and Shah Daulat. While mountain climbing has always been a well-known extreme sport in the country, it used to be a male-dominated space. But over the years, Pakistani women have shown interest in carrying out the impossible. We have had many incidents that point at the growing popularity of mountain climbing in the country, and yet we have not seen any action by the government in terms of providing support and training to aspiring climbers. Climbing the Nanga Parbat is no mean feat. Not only is the weather extremely cold in the area, but the peak’s terrain is also rough, making the journey quite challenging.
Naila also holds the record of ascending seven of the world’s 8,000-metre mountains. She is a Dubai-based banker and mother of two girls. Her dedication and passion for the sport shows that women also have the potential to carry out dangerous and seemingly impossible tasks. The other mountaineer, Samina, is from a remote village in Shimshal, Hunza. In 2010, she became the first person to climb the Chashkin Sar, which is now called ‘Samina Peak’. It is rather unfortunate that no work has been done at the federal level to train women like Samina to turn their dreams into reality and make unbreakable records. What is even more unfortunate is that these national heroes are rarely acknowledged.
Our policymakers seem more interested in focusing on just the one sport and injecting money in it to bring in more revenues. Brands and other advertizing companies also rarely make efforts to advertise the achievements of other athletes. People like Samina Baig and Naila Kiani rarely get brand deals or other endorsements, forcing them to treat this sport as a hobby and prepare for it on their own. The sudden death of ace Pakistani snooker player Majid Ali by suicide should be a wakeup call for sports authorities to start investing in our players. While Pakistanis keep making record after record in the mountaineering world, no government officials have tried contacting professional trainers to provide some guidance to these athletes. The mountaineering world can see more heroes and sheroes from Pakistan only if our governments take steps in the right direction and provide support to athletes interested in doing the impossible.