Naila Kiani and Shehroze Kashif, two young mountaineers from Pakistan, have successfully ascended Annapurna I, the tenth-highest mountain in the world.
The BARD Foundation funded the trek, and the pair succeeded in their mission to hoist the Pakistani flag atop the 8,000-meter mountain in Nepal at 6:31am (PST) on Monday.
“This has been one of the most challenging ascents of our journey, but it was a matter of honour and immense pleasure to have raised our prestigious flag on the top of Annapurna peak,” said Naila and Shehroze in a phone conversation.
Here, we want to be clear that our main objective is to make Pakistan proud while presenting a sympathetic and positive image of Pakistan to the rest of the world. Additionally, we want the world to know that this enthusiasm will not abate. Our goal is to spread the word about mountaineering and create possibilities for other young people.
Additionally, the two mountaineers thanked the Bard Foundation for their sponsorship and assistance. We want to thank Bard Foundation for helping to make our climb successful. Such dreams become a reality because of these organisations, according to Naila.
Naila will be continuing her journey towards Mount Everest and Lhotse while Shehroze will be climbing Dhaulagiri, which is the seventh highest mountain in the world.
Shehroze started his expedition at the age of 11 when he first ascended Makra Peak (3,885m). At present, he is the youngest mountaineer in the world to summit 11 peaks of over 8,000m.
At the age of 19, he successfully climbed Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8849m, becoming one of the youngest in the country to do so. In the same year, he also scaled K2 and became the youngest climber in the world. His mission is to become the youngest to climb all 14 peaks.
On the other hand, Naila climbed K2 on the first attempt and has also scaled Gasherbrum-I and Gasherbrum-II. She is now aiming to summit the Mount Everest.
The recent feat is just another feather in their cap.
The Managing Director of BARD Foundation Mehreen Dawood said, “We started this journey to promote education, sports, and social welfare. With time and our constant effort, we have demonstrated the importance of sports for the development and prosperity of youth.
Now, we are sponsoring a good number of sports enthusiasts who are being lauded at national and international levels for their remarkable skills. It has been a wonderful journey supporting these gifted kids and their dream of making their homeland proud. And, we pledge to keep backing them for all future endeavours.”