Sirbaz Khan, a renowned 32-year-old mountaineer from Pakistan, has added another remarkable accomplishment to his climbing career by successfully summiting Mount Everest without the use of supplementary oxygen. This achievement highlights his extraordinary skill and endurance, setting a new benchmark in high-altitude mountaineering.
Sirbaz Khan reached the top of the world’s highest mountain at 12:30 pm local time and became the only second Pakistani to scale the mountain without using oxygen.
With yet another remarkable achievement, Sirbaz Khan has added a new feather to his cap by becoming the first Pakistani mountaineer to scale 11 peaks over 8,000 meters without the help of supplemental oxygen. This impressive feat contributes to his overall tally of 13 climbs of mountains exceeding 8,000 meters. Among these challenging ascents, only Annapurna and Kangchenjunga required the use of oxygen support, underscoring his extraordinary endurance and skill in high-altitude mountaineering.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan, the country’s state-run mountaineering body, said in a statement, “Khan stood atop the summit of 8,586-m (28,169-ft) Kanchenjunga (Kangchenjunga), the world’s third-highest peak, at 7 am (local time) on Saturday (0115GMT) with other members of a team.”
The accomplished mountaineer, who had previously ascended the towering 8,849-meter peak with the help of bottled oxygen, has now conquered it without such support. In Pakistan, the only other individual to have accomplished this remarkable feat is fellow climber Sajid Sidpara.
Khan, originally from the Hunza Valley in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, began his mountaineering career in 2016 at just 24 years old. In 2019, he made history as the first Pakistani to reach the summit of Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest peak at 8,516 meters (27,940 feet), without using supplementary oxygen.
He aspires to become the first Pakistani to climb all 14 of the world’s highest mountains, each towering over 8,000 meters. His goal includes summiting Mount Makalu, located on the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region, and Gasherbrum-1 in Kashmir.
