Mirza Ali pictured just before summiting Everest. — Dawn

GILGIT: Mountaineer Mirza Ali scaled the Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, on Wednesday, thus becoming the second Pakistani climber to have done seven summits in all the seven continents of the world.

Seven summits means climbing the highest peak in each and every continent of the world.

Mirza Ali, who is brother of Samina Baig — the first and youngest Pakistani woman to climb Everest in 2013 and the first Pakistani to have done the seven summits — was part of an eight-member expedition to summit the highest peak. The expedition members started the adventure in the first week of April.

According to the Alpine Club of Pakistan, Ali scaled the mountain on Wednesday and hosted the Pakistani flag atop it.

Pioneer Adventure had organised the expedition.

The members of the expedition said they were proud to announce that one of their members, Mirza Ali, became the first Pakistani man to climb seven summits in as many continents after his successful summit to Everest on Wednesday (today).

“Our team member, Mr Adrian Laza from Romania, along with our two Sherpa guides, is our first team to accomplish the goal to summit Everest,” it said.

Four other Pakistanis have also climbed the Mount Everest, including Nazir Sabir, Hassan Sadpara, Samina Baig, belonging to Gilgit-Baltistan, and Col retired Abdul Jabbar Bhatti from Punjab.

Nazir Sabir was the first to climb Everest in 2000, followed by Hassan Sadpara, who climbed the world’s highest peak without supplement oxygen in 2011. Mr Sadpara passed away in 2016,

Samina Baig was the first Pakistani woman to have climbed the peak in 2013.

Mr Bhatti is the fourth Pakistani to have successfully scaled Mount Everest in May 2017.

Samiya Mirza, the wife of Mirza Ali, said the summit of Everest was not supported by anyone.

“It was a dream of Mirza Ali, which came true after seven years,” she said.

Samiya said she would also like to celebrate the feat as it served an inspiration for all them, especially men.

She said Ali had started descending the peak and would arrive at the base camp in next two days.

Correction: An earlier version of the story erroneously mentioned Mirza Ali as the first Pakistani climber to have done seven summits; he is the second Pakistani to have achieved this feat.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2019