After Everest, Hunza woman out to conquer highest peaks around the world

ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: After becoming the first Pakistani woman to conquer Mount Everest in May this year, Samina Baig from Hunza’s Shimshal village on Saturday left the country to climb seven famous peaks across the world. Her brother Mirza Ali was also with Samina when she left Islamabad for Buenos Aires, Argentina to scale the 6,961 metre-high Mount Aconcagua there. They will also attempt to summit Mount Vinson, 4,892 metres in Antarctica and Mount McKinley, 6,194 metres in Alaska. Explaining details of their mission, Mirza Ali said they would head for Antarctica in January to climb Mount Vinson and then to Tanzania to climb Mt Kilimanjaro before returning to Pakistan. He said later they would be travelling to Indonesia to attempt Puncak Jaya, which is 4,884 metres high. Mirza Ali also spoke about his plans to attempt the 8,848 metre-high Mt Everest again next year. During the next summer, the pair will be attempting Mt McKinley in Alaska. Both will be flying to Russia to climb the highest mountain in Europe – Elbrus, 5,642 metres tall – which will be their last target peak in August 2014. He informed the gathering that a Pakistani-Canadian philanthropist and a few of his overseas friends were financing their venture.  ]]>