On top of the world

It is not often we hear about someone from Pakistan doing something that few have ever done before. Only around 70 people on the planet today have summited all 14 of the world’s 8000-metre peaks. Less than 25 have managed to do so without using supplemental oxygen. Last week, Sirbaz Khan, a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Hunza Valley, joined this elite company and became the first and only person from the country to summit all of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks without the aid of supplemental oxygen. Sirbaz completed this monumental feat this past Sunday (May 18), summiting the 8,586 metres tall Mount Kanchenjunga in Nepal, the world’s third highest peak. While he had previously climbed all 14 of the 8000-metre peaks, which already made him one of the most accomplished climbers in the world, he had used bottled oxygen on two of those earlier ascents near the summit. To achieve the no-oxygen distinction, he returned this season to climb Annapurna in April and Kangchenjunga in May, both without artificial oxygen support. Climbing above the 8000-metre mark, which is known as the oxygen-deprived ‘death zone’, without any artificial oxygen is a feat of extreme endurance, sheer will and resilience. In that sense, Sirbaz embodies many of the values that often define life in Pakistan, where resilience is usually a must to survive.

Khan began his journey in 2017 when he successfully summited Nanga Parbat, a notoriously dangerous 8,126m peak. He continued to conquer some of the most challenging peaks, including K2 in July 2018 and Lhotse in May 2019, where he became the first Pakistani to summit the 8,516m peak. In September of the same year, he scaled Manaslu in Nepal, becoming only the second Pakistani to reach its 8,163m summit, and in April 2021 he became the first Pakistani to summit Annapurna, one of the deadliest mountains in the world. The tallest peak in the world came the next month, when Sirbaz climbed all 8,849 metres of Mount Everest. With his successful ascent of Shishapangma on October 4, 2024, he became the first Pakistani to conquer all 14 of the world’s highest peaks. It is hoped that he will not be the last.

While Sirbaz is not the only great mountain climber that the country can boast of, with Naila Kiani becoming the first Pakistani woman to scale 11,8000 metre peaks last year, mountain climbing is still a pretty niche pursuit in Pakistan. The security situation in the country is far from ideal, but it has improved considerably over the past decade or so and with this improvement has come a surge in travel and tourism to the country’s northern regions. This trend, along with the growing profile of Pakistani climbers, could help spark greater interest in mountain climbing and similar outdoor sports. Sadly, like most sports outside of cricket, mountain climbing does not have a very prominent platform in Pakistan right now. But that has not stopped Pakistani climbers like Sirbaz from achieving greatness. Should the sports authorities decide to give mountain climbing more support, the possibilities for the nation’s climbers are limitless.