The Unsung Heroine
To reach the summit of Mount Everest is merely an idiom for most us, referring to unachievable goals. But for Samina Baig, it was reality.
In 2014, Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to summit the highest mountains on each of the seven continents of the world. Baig, who hails from Hunza in Gilgit-Baltistan, was on a mission to raise the Pakistanis flag on the highest peaks of the seven continents. A veteran climber since the age of 6, Baig and company climbed the Nepalese south face of the mountain on April 1st, 2014. The expedition to the summit took 48 days, the team traversed the South Col pass in eight hours, with the mountaineers reaching their goal on the sixtieth anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing’s first successful conquest of Everest.
Much is remarkable about Baig’s story. She is the first person to climb Chaskin Sar, a 6,000-metre high peak, which has now been named after her. She managed to secure Rs10 million from funders in New Zealand for this climb, which was part of an adventure diplomacy mission, funded by a few passionate climbers outside Pakistan, a few embassies in Islamabad and managed by the Serena Hotels, and with no support from the government of Pakistan. Upon reaching the top, she chose to deploy the Pakistani flag alongside the Indian flag, which had been positioned there by sisters and fellow climbers from India, in a symbolic gesture that surpasses that of most politicians.
Her accomplishments did not peak at Everest; in 2018, was appointed the National Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Unsung Heroine
To reach the summit of Mount Everest is merely an idiom for most us, referring to unachievable goals. But for Samina Baig, it was reality.
In 2014, Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to summit the highest mountains on each of the seven continents of the world. Baig, who hails from Hunza in Gilgit-Baltistan, was on a mission to raise the Pakistanis flag on the highest peaks of the seven continents. A veteran climber since the age of 6, Baig and company climbed the Nepalese south face of the mountain on April 1st, 2014. The expedition to the summit took 48 days, the team traversed the South Col pass in eight hours, with the mountaineers reaching their goal on the sixtieth anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing’s first successful conquest of Everest.
Much is remarkable about Baig’s story. She is the first person to climb Chaskin Sar, a 6,000-metre high peak, which has now been named after her. She managed to secure Rs10 million from funders in New Zealand for this climb, which was part of an adventure diplomacy mission, funded by a few passionate climbers outside Pakistan, a few embassies in Islamabad and managed by the Serena Hotels, and with no support from the government of Pakistan. Upon reaching the top, she chose to deploy the Pakistani flag alongside the Indian flag, which had been positioned there by sisters and fellow climbers from India, in a symbolic gesture that surpasses that of most politicians.
Her accomplishments did not peak at Everest; in 2018, was appointed the National Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
