ISLAMABAD: Shehroze Kashif, a 20-year-old man from the north, has become the world’s youngest mountaineer to summit ten peaks above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) after he climbed Gasherbrum I, the 11th tallest mountain on earth on Friday, a mountaineering association said.
The 8,068-meter (26,469-foot) Gasherbrum I, also known as the “Hidden Mountain”, is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders neighbouring China, and is home to five out of a total of 14 mountains above 8,000 meters.
“Heartiest congratulations Shehroze Kashif on the summit of Gasherbrum I today at 4.09 am (2.09GMT),” announced the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
“Now Shehroze Kashif becomes the youngest mountaineer in the whole world to summit 10 peaks above 8,000 meters,” it added.
Hailing from Lahore, Kashif is only the sixth Pakistan man to scale Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain in May last year. Among them, Samina Baig is the only woman climber to achieve this milestone, in 2013.
Kashif, the son of a businessman, started climbing at the tender age of 11, gradually scaling several peaks ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 meters (9,843-26,247 feet) before ascending Mount Everest and K2.
In 2013, he scaled the 3,885-meter (12,746-foot) Makra Peak, situated in Mansehra, still just 11 years old.
His 2019 expedition to the 8,047-meter (26,401-foot) Broad Peak, located in Gilgit-Baltistan, earned him the title “The Broad Boy.”
Apart from Kashif, two other Pakistani climbers, Sirbaz Khan, and Naila Kiyani also made it to the top of Gasherbrum I on Friday.
After scaling Gasherbrum I, Khan, 32, has become the only Pakistani to climb 12 mountains above 8,000 meters across the world.
Kiani, who accompanied Kashif and Sirbaz to conquer Gasherbrum I, has become the only Pakistani female to scale all 8,000-meter peaks inside Pakistan.
Last month, Kiani, became the first Pakistani mother to summit K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain.
A banker by profession, she currently lives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
