Shehroze, Sirbaz set to re-summit Manaslu, Naila eyes 9th 8-thousander

Pakistani mountaineers Shehroze Kashif and Sirbaz Ali Khan are set to re-summit 8,136 metres tall Mount Manaslu in Nepal, while female mountaineer Naila Kiani is eyeing her 9th summit of an eight-thousander. 

The two male climbers had scaled the mountain earlier on different occasions but it was revealed that all previous summits done on Manaslu were not the actual peak point.

Shehroze was 19 years old when he first scaled Manaslu on September, 25, 2021, but two days after the achievement it came to the fore that the summit point that he and other climbers had reached was not the actual summit point and the “real summit” was 10m ahead of that.

Though the mountaineering authorities in Nepal had validated Sheroze’s summit along with all other previous summits, the Pakistani climber had announced that he will not count Manaslu in his 14 mountains project and would attempt to climb the world’s 8th highest peak once again.

Shehroze confirmed from Nepal on Saturday that he has completed his rotation on Manaslu and will start his summit push on Monday with the aim to reach on top by the 20th.

“As I promised to climb Manaslu again, now this is the time to fulfill my promise, even though I didn't include my previous summit of Manaslu in my ‘14 project’, I feel it is my duty as a climber to go back and raise my country’s flag on top of the real summit of Manaslu,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sirbaz who had scaled Manaslu in 2019 is also at the mountain's basecamp and will be aiming to reach the real summit of the peak.

Both Sirbaz and Shehroze have climbed 12 out of 14 peaks of over 8,000m in the world. This tally of 12 includes their previous climbs of Manaslu.

Moreover, Pakistan’s most decorated female climber Naila Kiani is also among the mountaineers aiming to reach the Manaslu pinnacle.

The mountaineer eyes to become the first Pakistani woman to climb Manaslu.

Naila joined Sirbaz and Shehroze on the Manaslu basecamp after completing her rotation to get acclimatised.

Kiani is the first and only Pakistani woman to have climbed eight peaks of over 8,000m and Manaslu will be her 9th.

She is eyeing the title of the first Pakistani woman to climb all 14 peaks of over 8,000m.

Furthermore, a Lahore-based duo of husband-wife is also attempting to climb Manaslu and if they’re successful, they’ll become the first Pakistani couple to climb any 8,000m peak together.