Pakistani climber Shehroze Kashif aka The Broad Boy summited Mount Gasherbrum I (8,080m) Friday morning, becoming the youngest mountaineer in the world to scale 10 peaks above 8,000m.
Shehroze’s social media handles posted “Few moments before at 4:09 a.m. PST, Shehroze Kashif has summited Gasherbrum I 8080m – 11th highest mountain in the world.”
The 20-year-old mountaineer broke the record held by British climber Adriana Brownlee who summited 10 world’s peaks above 8,000m in July. She is one year older than Kashif. The 21-year-old Adriana summited six peaks in the past four months before postponing her Gasherbrum I and II expedition on early August.
Adriana is still the youngest female mountaineer to scale 10 peaks above 8000m.
Kashif is a rising Pakistani mountaineering star. His record-breaking mountaineering journey began when he summited Mount Broad Peak (8,051m) at the age of 17, making him famous as The Broad Boy. He scaled K2 (8,511m) at the age of 19, becoming the youngest person to scale the savage mountain. He also holds the Guinness World Record for youngest climber to scale world’s two highest mountains- Everest (8,848m) and K2 in the same year.
This spring, he summited Kanchenjunga (8,586m), Lhotse (8,516m) and Makalu (8,485m) in Nepal in 23 days before heading to Karakoram.
Another Pakistani climber Sirbaz Khan also summited the Hidden Peak, becoming the first Pakistani climber to summit 12 of the world’s 14 peaks above 8000m, Saad Munawar posted on his social media handle.The 34-year-old Sirbaz started climbing career only six years ago.
Sirbaz is considered a strong climber who breaks the route himself and has joined rope fixing teams in several of his expeditions. He scaled Gasherbrum I without using supplemental oxygen. With this ascent, Sirbaz has scaled all 8000ers in Nepal and Pakistan. Now he only has Cho Oyu (8,188m) and Shishapangma (8,027m) to complete his 14 peaks, both of which are climbed from Tibet.
Pakistan is home to five of world’s highest 14 peaks above 8,000m. However, no Pakistani climber has ever completed ascent of 14 peaks yet. Pakistani climbing hero the late Mohammad Ali Sadpara, known as versatile climber in international community, was the first person to summit 8 of them. He was also a member of the international team that made the first ever winter summit of Nanga Parbat (8,125m) in 2016. Ali Sadpara has inspired a new generation of Pakistani to pursue career in mountaineering.
In 2021, Ali, as a member of an international team, was attempting to make the winter summit of K2 without oxygen, when he met a tragic accident and perished in the mountain.
Sajid Ali Sadpara, Ali’s son, also summited G1 Friday morning without supplemental oxygen, his media cell stated in an Instagram post. This is his third 8,000er. Sajid summited Gasherbrum II three days ago. He has summited K2 twice. In winter 2021, his father and Sajid wanted to scale the savage mountain without bottled oxygen. However, he returned from the bottleneck as he felt sick. His father and members of the international team never returned from the mountain.
Naila Kiani also summited the peak on Friday morning along with Sirbaz, Sajid, Sohail Sakhi and Imtiaz Sadpara. She is also the first Pakistani woman to summit G1. She had climbed G II last year. She is the only Pakistani woman to summit K2 a year after starting her mountaineering career. On July 22, she scaled K2, becoming the second Pakistani woman to achieve the feat. Samia Baig, who has completed explorer’s glandslam–highest mountains in seven continents, scaled the peak three hours ahead of her.
Japanese climber Naoko Watanabe also summited Gasherbrum I on Friday morning. Sanu Sherpa, legendary mountaineer to scale all 14 eitht-thousanders twice, guided her to the summit. “They reached the summit of G1 at 2.58am today,” Sanu’s son Nang Norbu Sherpa told Everest Chronicle.
Naoko also completed all eight-thousanders in Nepal and Pakistan so far. She wants to become the first Japanese female climber to do all 14 peaks.
Sarbaz and Naoko, like most other 14 peaks hopeful this year, will need special permission from China to enter the country and climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma. China has closed all its mountains and borders to foreigners since COVID outbreak.
