TEHRAN — Afsaneh Hesami Fard’s name went down in history as the first Iranian female climber who reached the 8611-meter K2 peak And hoisted her country’s flag atop the peak in the Karakoram Range on the China-Pakistan border on Friday.
Hesami Fard, who ventured out along with a group of female climbers from Pakistan, including Samina Baig, reached the top of the second-highest peak on the earth, after Mount Everest in Nepal.
She was among several women to successfully reach K2’s peak on Friday, according to Karrar Haidri, chief officer of the Pakistan Alpine Club, which helps coordinate between climbers and the government in the event of an emergency, but also prior to and during the climbs.
K2, on the Chinese-Pakistani border in the Karakorum Range, has one of the deadliest records with most people dying on the way down. Only a few hundred have successfully reached its summit. In contrast, Mount Everest has been summited more than 9,000 times.
The mountain is considered extremely difficult to climb. Not only is it the second highest after Mount Everest, its ascent and descent are considered much more challenging that the world’s highest.
K2 is the coldest and windiest of climbs. At places along the route, climbers must navigate nearly sheer rock faces rising 80 degrees, while avoiding frequent and unpredictable avalanches.
The latest record comes a day after Nepalese climber Sanu Sherpa set a new mountaineering record for twice reaching the peak of each of the world’s 14 highest mountains.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s military airlifted two Pakistani climbers, including the man who became the youngest to scale K2 to safety after the pair went missing during an expedition scaling Nanga Parbat, known as “Killer Mountain” because of its dangerous conditions.