Samina Baig

Early life and career

Baig comes from Shimshal village in Hunza Gojal, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, and was trained in mountaineering from the age of 15 by her brother, Mirza Ali. She is a student of Arts and began climbing when she was merely four years old. Besides the Himalayas, Baig has been employed as a mountain guide and expedition leader in the Hindu Kush and the peaks of Karakoram. Baig has been a professional climber since 2009. Special Communications Organization (SCO), a telecom operator in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Balitistan has appointed her as its Brand Ambassador. The contract signing ceremony was held at headquarters Special Communications Organization Rawalpindi. Maj Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa and other officials of SCO were present on the occasion

Climbing Mount Everest

Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman and the third Pakistani to climb Mount Everest on 19 May 2013. She was joined by Indian twin girls Tashi and Nungshi Malik in climbing Mount Everest and they together perched national flags of India and Pakistan side-by-side atop the peak, to spread a message of Indo-Pakistani friendship and peace. In an interview with her brother before the ascent; Baig also stated that the expedition was a demonstration of gender equality. Samina's Brother Mirza Ali, approximately 248m short from the summit of Everest, let his sister go to the summit on her own without his support ,to give message of Women empowerment in Pakistan.

The The Express Tribune reported that Baig had not used any supplementary oxygen, although The Hindu reported that she had planned the opposite. Commencing on 1 April, Baig and company climbed the Nepalese south face of the mountain. The expedition to the summit took 48 days, the team traversed the South Col pass in eight hours, with the mountaineers reaching their goal on the sixtieth anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing's first successful conquest of Everest. She was congratulated for the achievement by the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

Seven Summits

"Samina Baig set the record of capturing the seven summits in record age of 23 years and record time. We had the greatest honor to hoist our green flag on the seven summits," said Mirza Ali who accompanied Samina Baig on the seven summits adventure, updating his Facebook page.

Mount McKinley and Mount Elbrus (3–24 July 2014); The two flew out to Russia, after summiting Mount McKinley on 3 July 2014 in Alaska, where they pushed to capture the highest mountain in Europe, Mount Elbrus, which is 5,642 metres tall. At 9 am on 24 July 2014, Samina Baig stood at the top of Mt Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia, with her brother, holding the Pakistani flag high for a picture. With this summit, the 23 years old climber completed the challenge of climbing seven of the highest mountains around the world, including Mount Everest which she conquered in May, 2013.

Carstensz Pyramid (March 2014); In March, Samina Baig and Mirza Ali reached the top of the 4,884 metres-high Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), the highest peak in Indonesia.

Mount Kilimanjaro (February 2014); Mirza Ali and Samina Baig reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m) in Tanzania in February 2014.

Mount Vinson (January 2014); Baig and Ali successfully scaled the 4,892-metre Mount Vinson in the planet's southernmost continent around 1 am PST as part of a five-member team, the Alpine Federation said.

Mount Aconcagua (December 2013); In December 2013,they climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest peak in South America.The Alpine Club of Pakistan reported that the duo arrived at the top of Aconcagua – which is 6,961 meters (or 22,838 feet) high

In popular culture

A documentary film Beyond the Heights was also made on her expedition to Mount Everest.