ISLAMABAD: Pakistani alpinism has reached a spectacular milestone as Salman Ateeque, a seasoned climber from Pakistan, successfully scaled Mount Everest on Thursday, becoming the 13th Pakistani to hoist the national flag atop the world’s highest peak.
Continued International Team Summit on Everest!!!
21 May, 2026We are happy to announce the successful summit of Mount Everest by our international team members today. We have almost reached the end of our international teams summit bids.
Summiters:
Salman Ateeque 🇵🇰
Kia Noosh… pic.twitter.com/o5QgEnOXJE— Seven Summit Treks 🇳🇵 (@sst8848) May 21, 2026
A sole representative amid a global gathering
The 2026 spring climbing window has seen massive international participation, with Nepali authorities issuing 464 permits across 80 countries, heavily led by delegations from China (100) and India (58).
Amid this global gathering, Ateeque stood out as the only Pakistani national to secure a climbing permit this season. He reached the 8,848-meter summit at around 11:39 AM PKT.
Bridging technical precision and raw endurance
An electrical engineer with 25 years of experience in the telecom sector, Ateeque seamlessly bridges his professional discipline with the raw endurance required for extreme high-altitude mountaineering.
No stranger to the perils of the “Death Zone,” he successfully conquered Mount Manaslu (8,163 m) in Nepal last year. Moving swiftly through the hazardous Khumbu Icefall and capitalizing on a favourable weather window, Ateeque executed a textbook summit push.
Pakistani mountaineer Salman Ateeque has successfully summited Mount Everest, becoming the 13th Pakistani climber to reach the world’s highest peak during the 2026 Himalayan expedition season.#MountEverest #EverestSummit2026 #PakistanMountaineering #PakClimbers #PakistanTV pic.twitter.com/gi8XWDgaJH
— Pakistan TV (@PakTVGlobal) May 21, 2026
The illustrious ranks of Pakistani summiteers
With this achievement, Ateeque enters the history books alongside the icons of Pakistani mountaineering.
Complete list of the 13 Pakistani Mount Everest summiteers
- Nazir Sabir – 2000 (Pioneer)
- Hassan Sadpara – 2011
- Samina Baig – 2013 (First Pakistani woman)
- Mirza Ali Baig – 2013
- Abdul Jabbar Bhatti – 2017
- Shehroze Kashif – 2021 (Youngest Pakistani, age 19)
- Sirbaz Khan – 2021 (First Pakistani to scale all 14 eight-thousanders)
- Sajid Ali Sadpara – 2023 (First Pakistani without supplemental oxygen)
- Naila Kiani – 2023 (Second Pakistani woman)
- Wajidullah Nagri – 2025
- Abdul Joshi – 2025
- Saad Bin Munawar – 2025 (Northern Route)
- Salman Ateeque – 2026 (Latest)
The entire Pakistani sports community eagerly awaits Ateeque’s safe descent back to Base Camp following this historic triumph.
