Pakistani climber Naila Kayani scales world's 3rd highest peak Kanchenjunga

Pakistan's top female mountaineer, Naila Kayani, has crossed another milestone by scaling the world's third-highest peak, Kanchenjunga.

Naila Kayani started her journey from Camp Four on Thursday evening towards the final summit of Kanchenjunga, but today at 6:00am, she reached the top of Kanchenjunga and hoisted the Pakistani flag on the 8586-meter-high Kanchenjunga.

Kanchenjunga is located on the border of India and Nepal and is the highest peak in India.

Talking about her new victory, Naila Kayani said that she is proud of this achievement, but her journey is not over yet, and scaling Kanchenjunga is not a personal achievement for her.

Naila said that this is a message for all women in Pakistan. ‘I want to tell women that they are stronger than they think’.

Along with Kanchenjunga, Naila Kayani has climbed 12 peaks above 8,000 meters, and she is the first and only woman in Pakistan to climb 12 peaks above 8,000 meters. Her sights are now set on climbing all peaks above 8,000 meters.

Naila Kayani's mountaineering career

Naila started her mountaineering career by climbing Gesherbram II in 2021. In July 2022, she climbed K-2, the second-highest peak in the world. In August 2022, Naila climbed Gesherbram I, and in April 2023, Annapurna.

In 2023, Naila summited Mount Everest, Lhotse, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, and Cho Aew. In May 2024, Naila Kayani summited Mount Makalu, the fifth-highest peak in the world. Furthermore, she now has to summit Shishapangma and Dhaulagiri to complete her journey to all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters.