Prime Highlights
- Qatari mountaineer Sheikha Asma bint Thani al-Thani reaches the summit of Gasherbrum II, her 11th peak above 8,000 metres.
- The climb brings her closer to completing all 14 of the world’s peaks exceeding 8,000 metres.
Key Facts
- Sheikha Asma’s team reached the summit around 5am after five days of waiting at Camp 1 for a weather window.
- She later learned contact had been lost with the Broad Peak team, including a climber she had messaged shortly after reaching the summit.
Background
Qatari mountaineer Sheikha Asma bint Thani al-Thani has reached the summit of Gasherbrum II in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, marking her 11th peak above 8,000 metres and bringing her closer to conquering all 14 of the world’s highest mountains.
Gasherbrum II sits along the Pakistan-China border in a zone climbers call the “Death Zone,” where oxygen runs low and extreme cold and weather put lives at risk.
Writing on Instagram, Sheikha Asma described five days spent waiting at Camp 1 for the weather to clear, followed by a moonlit push to the top. She said two teammates, Pasang Norbu and Lakpa, had gone ahead to clear the path but held back near the top, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. She described the team as one that looked out for each other throughout the climb.
From the summit, she looked out toward K2 and Broad Peak, unaware at the time of a tragedy unfolding nearby. She later learned that contact had been lost with the Broad Peak team, which included a climber she had messaged just after reaching the top. She said she only realised afterward that the brief message would turn out to be the final one she ever sent him.
Sheikha Asma thanked Pakistan for hosting her climb in the Karakoram, where she continues working toward summiting all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres.
The climb forms part of her “Beyond Boundaries” initiative, which pairs her mountaineering goals with humanitarian work aimed at inspiring women and young people to push past perceived limits.
