Know Samina Khayal Baig, first Pakistani woman to climb Everest

New Delhi: On Wednesday Samina Baig and her brother Mirza Ali scaled Mount Carstensz Pyramid, the highest peak in Indonesia. After a six-hour-long climb, the siblings hoisted the Pakistani flag on top of the mountain on Wednesday morning. “We are so thankful to have made it to the top today after six hours of hard climbing. It feels really great to be here,” said Samina Baig while speaking on a satellite phone. This is the fourth of the seven summits Samina and her brother will climb to promote gender equality, youth development and women empowerment. As they near the end of their journey, they also come closer to becoming the only siblings in the world to have accomplished this feat together.Lets know more about Samina Baig Samina Khayal Baig is the first Pakistani woman and the third Pakistani to climb Mount Everest. She is also the youngest Muslim woman to climb Everest, having done so at the age of 21. She was the first to climb the peak Chashkin Sar (above 6,000 meters) in Pakistan in 2010, which was later renamed Samina Peak after her. She reached the summit of 'Koh-i-Brobar' ('Mount Equality') in 2011. An attempt at the seven kilometer high Spantik Peak ended in failure for Baig, due to adverse weather conditions. Baig comes from Shimshal village in Hunza Gojal, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, and was trained in mountaineering from the age of 15 by her brother, Mirza Ali. She is a student of Arts and began climbing when she was merely four years old. Besides the Himalayas, Baig has been employed as a mountain guide and expedition leader in the Hindu Kush and the peaks of Karakoram. Baig has been a professional climber since 2009. Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman and the third Pakistani to climb Mount Everest on May 19, 2013. She was joined by Indian twin girls Tashi and Nancy Malik in climbing Mount Everest and they together perched national flags of India and Pakistan side-by-side atop the peak, to spread a message of Indo-Pakistani friendship and peace. In an interview with her brother before the ascent; Baig also stated that the expedition was a demonstration of gender equality. According to the Pakistan Alpine Club, her brother Mirza Ali was unable to reach the summit as he dropped out in the end due to his illness. The The Express Tribune reported that Baig had not used any supplementary oxygen,although The Hindu reported that she had planned the opposite. Commencing on April 1, Baig and company climbed the Nepalese south face of the mountain. 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 first successful conquest of Everest.