Sirbaz Khan has become the first Pakistani climber to climb 10 of the world’s highest 14 peaks above 8,000 meter after scaling Kanchenjunga on Saturday, his manager said.
Khan stood atop the summit (8,586 m) of the world’s third highest peak at 7 am on Saturday with other members of a team led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa (Mingma G) of Imagine Nepal, according to the climber’s manager Saad Manuwar.
“Sirbaz is the first and only Pakistani to summit 10 peaks above 8,000 meter,” he told Everest chronicle
Another Pakistani climber Ali Sadpara had submitted eight mountains above 8000 meters before he died in 2021. Sadpara died on Mount K2 while trying to summit the killer mountain in winter following Nepali climbers’ historic winter ascent the same year.
Pakistanis are celebrating his success. “The green flag gets raised at the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga for the second time in three days,” Manuwar wrote on Facebook, referring to Shehroze Kashif who on Thursday became the youngest climber to summit Kanchenjunga.
Starting his climbing career in 2016, Khan has climbed seven peaks without supplemental oxygen including Mount Lhotse (8,516m) in 2019. He was the first Pakistani to summit Lothse without bottled oxygen.
“I can not confirm yet if he used oxygen or not [while climbing Kanchenjunga]. We will know after he arrives at base camp,” Saad said.
Khan is aiming to become the first Pakistani to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks. He plans to climb Makalu this month and G1 this summer. However, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma are not decided yet.
More than three dozen climbers and their climbing guides have scaled Kanchenjunga since the summit push started on Thursday.
A total of 68 climbing permits have been issued for Kanchenjunga, the second highest after Everest, according to the Department of Tourism.
A total of 316 climbing permits have been issued for Everest this year, almost 100 less than last year.
