Key points
- The only peak left for Khan to complete the list of all 14 8-thousanders is Kanchenjunga
- Sirbaz’s climbing record includes three successful ascents of K2
- He reached the summit of Mount Annapurna at approximately 10:50 AM PST
GILGIT: Renowned Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan on Monday scaled the 8,091-metre- high Mount Annapurna in Nepal without using supplementary oxygen.
With this remarkable achievement, he becomes the first Pakistani to scale 13 out of the 14 eight-thousanders — peaks over 8,000 metres high — without oxygen support. The only peak left for Khan to complete the list of all 14 eight-thousanders without oxygen is Kanchenjunga, the 3rd-highest mountain in the world at 8,586 metres above sea level.
His brother, Shahbaz Khan, confirmed to WENews English that the 38-year-old climber reached the summit of the world’s 10th highest mountain at approximately 10:50 AM PST.
Sirbaz’s manager, Saad Munawar, also confirmed the successful summit, noting that this was Sirbaz’s second ascent of Annapurna.
The author of two mountain travelogues, “Chogori” and “Rakaposhi K Saye Mein”, added that with this climb, Sirbaz is now the first and only Pakistani mountaineer with 13 oxygen-free ascents of 8000-metre peaks, including two summits of Annapurna.
Safe return
“Praying for Sirbaz’s safe return to base camp — then we can truly celebrate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Seven Summit Treks (SST), the Nepalese tour operator managing the expedition, also confirmed the successful summit in a social media update.
“We are glad to announce that SST has achieved the first success of the season on Annapurna I,” the company stated. “On April 6, our climber Cesar Chinchay (No O2) from Peru successfully summited Annapurna at around 10 AM Nepal time, marking the beginning of the season’s success.”
Following the final route fixing of the last 500 metres in collaboration with other agencies, a successful summit push took place during the second weather window.
On the morning of April 7, SST reported that five climbers and four sherpas reached the summit of Annapurna I (8,091m), including Sirbaz Khan.
Success streak
In October last year, Sirbaz Khan made further history by becoming the first Pakistani mountaineer to conquer all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8,000 metres after summiting Shishapangma, which stands at 8,027 metres in Tibet.
That same month, Shehroze Kashif from Lahore became the youngest and second Pakistani to achieve this milestone.
Hailing from Aliabad village in Hunza district, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khan began his mountaineering journey in 2017 with the ascent of the 8,126-metre-high Nanga Parbat, also known as Killer Mountain.
His climbing record includes three successful ascents of K2 in 2018, 2022, and 2024, two ascents of Mount Everest in 2021 and 2024, and now two summits of Annapurna.
In July 2019, he summited Broad Peak (8,051 metres) without the use of supplementary oxygen. Later that year in September, he scaled Manaslu in Nepal, becoming only the second Pakistani after Shehroze Kashif to reach its 8,163-metre summit.
Annapurna with oxygen
In April 2021, he became the first Pakistani to summit Annapurna with oxygen support. The following month, he successfully climbed Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth at 8,849 metres.
In July 2021, Sirbaz successfully climbed Gasherbrum-II, which stands at 8,035 metres. In October 2021, he became the first Pakistani to summit Dhaulagiri, an 8,167-metre peak in Nepal.
In May 2022, Sirbaz successfully summited Kangchenjunga (8,586m) and Mount Makalu (8,481 metres) in Nepal.
In August 2022, Sirbaz successfully climbed the 8,080-metre (26,510 ft) high Gasherbrum-I, the 11th highest mountain in the world. In October 2023, he added Cho Oyu to his list of conquests, becoming the first Pakistani to summit the 8,188-metre peak. Finally, with his successful ascent of Shishapangma on October 4, 2024, he completed all 14 of the world’s highest peaks.
