ISLAMABAD: Record-breaking Pakistani mountaineer Shehroze Kashif said Wednesday that he would complete his ambitious goal of scaling all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres before the year’s end.
The 21-year-old has already climbed 11 peaks above 8,000 metres with the latest summit taking place on Monday when he, along with compatriot Naila Kiani and other members of the Seven Summits Treks’ team, successfully ascended Mt Annapurna 1 (8091-metre), in Nepal’s Gandaki.
“I’ll next attempt Dhaulagiri (8,167m). But I’ll take a break now for a couple of weeks. My mother is insisting I come back and celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr at home,” Shehroze told APP on the phone from Nepal.
“So I’ll proceed back to my country shortly. It will be after four years that I’ll be celebrating Eid in my country with my parents. After Eid, I’ll come back to climb Dhaulagiri.”
A day after climbing Annapurna, both Shehroze and Naila were rescued from the peak after their descent was disrupted due to bad weather.
Born on March 11, 2002, Shehroze made history by becoming the youngest climber in the world to summit K2 on July 27, 2021.
He also became the youngest Pakistani to summit Mount Everest on May 11, 2021.
After the successful summit of Mount Everest, the Sports Board of Punjab made him the youth ambassador of Punjab. He summited Broad Peak at the age of 17, after which he was called ‘The Broad Boy’.
He started climbing mountains at the age of 11 with Makra Peak being the first one, followed by Musa ka Musalla and Chembra Peak at 12, Mingli Sar in Shimshal at 13, Khurdopin Pass at 15, and Khosar Gang in alpine style at 18 years of age.
Shehroze currently holds two Guinness World Records for being the youngest to climb K2 and the youngest to climb Broad Peak.
On May 5, 2022, he became the youngest in the world and the first Pakistani to reach the summit of Kangchenjunga — the third-highest peak in the world.
On May 16, 2022, he summited the world’s fourth-highest peak, Mount Lhotse (8,516m), in Nepal. On November 1, 2022, Shehroze was recognized by Guinness World Records for the year 2023 for summiting Mount Everest and K2.
In July 2022, Shehroze and Fazal Ali went missing between Camp 4 and Camp 3, after successfully summiting Nanga Parbat. However, the duo was discovered shortly after.
With the summit of Annapurna 1, Shehroze has now become the youngest mountaineer in the world to summit 11 peaks above 8000 meters.
“I’m in high spirits. I know hardships and difficulties are part of the game when you set off for an expedition. I intend to achieve my goal before the year ends,” he added.
If that happens, he will be the youngest mountaineer to have summited all above 8,000 peaks.
