Conquering the World

Mountaineers feat: Siblings scale Mount Vinson in Antarctica

This photograph received from Pakistan Youth Outreach (PYO) and taken on May 19, 2013 shows climber Samina Baig holding the national flag on the peak of Mount Everest, Nepal. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: 

Pakistani mountaineers Samina Baig and Mirza Ali on Saturday successfully scaled Mount Vinson in Antarctica, according to the Alpine Federation of Pakistan.

The sister-brother mountaineer duo, which hails from Shimshal in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), has been on an eight-month expedition to climb seven summits on seven continents since the end of November 2013.

They successfully climbed the 6,962-metre Mount Aconcagua in Argentina in December 2013 to complete the first leg of their expedition, which aims to promote gender equality and world peace.

Baig, who famously became the first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest in May 2013, 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 Vinson, also known as Vinson Massif, is the highest point in Antarctica, according to US Geological Survey’s website.

“We congratulate Samina Baig and Mirza Ali, and hope that they will complete their mission,” said Karrar Haidri, the Alpine Federation’s press secretary.

Baig and Ali intend to climb the highest mountain on each continent. Together, the seven highest mountains on the seven continents are popularly called the ‘Seven Summits’.