KHAPLU, GB: In a first, a six-member team of Pakistani women climbers have started its mission to scale the second-highest peak in the world, K2, expressing hope to conquer the summit and break gender stereotypes linked with women in the South Asian country.
The team features professional women climbers Anum Uzair from Lahore, Bibi Afzoon and Sultana Nasab from Hunza in northern Pakistan, sisters Amina Hanif and Siddiqa Hanif from Hushe Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan’s district Ghanche and Shama Baqir.
The 45-day expedition has been organized by Imagine Climb, a mountain trekking and climbing company operated by Pakistani climber Sirbaz Khan, and is supported by the Pakistan Army. Sirbaz Khan, who is the first and only Pakistani to have climbed eleven of the world’s 14 highest peaks, will lead the all-women team in their expedition. Sirbaz Khan said that all arrangements about the expedition have been completed.
Anum Uzair the co-leader of the expedition said that being part of an all-women team is amazingly empowering and it feels like they are breaking barriers in the society. She was of the view that they were paving the way for other women in the country, showing them that they too can achieve great heights in any field they select.
Known as “Savage Mountain” among mountaineers, K2 in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region has often been considered a more challenging climb than Mount Everest.
The team members of the event completed a climbing training at Sadpara Mountaineering School.
