Female climbers from Pakistan and Iran become first women mountaineers to climb the summit of K2

K2, the second-highest mountain on the planet after Mount Everest, is considered one of the most dangerous summits

A Pakistani female mountaineer and another from Iran scripted history on Friday by becoming the first women from their countries to scale the summit of the mighty and treacherous K2, the second-highest mountain peak in the world, a mountaineering official said on Friday.

At 7.42 a.m. local time, Samina Baig, 31, completed the ascent to the top of K2, an imposing 8,611-metre-tall mountain situated on the Karakoram Range, Karrar Haidri of the Alpine Club of Pakistan said.

“We are extremely proud to announce that Samina Baig (Pakistan) with her strong Pakistani team, successfully summit the world’s most fascinating & dangerous mountain known as savage mountain the world’s second and Pakistan’s tallest mountain #K2 8611meters this morning at 7:42am,” Mr. Haidri said.

In 2013, she became the first Pakistani woman to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.

Barely three hours after Ms. Baig’s monumental climb, another woman mountaineer named Naila Kiani also reached the top of K2, becoming the second Pakistani woman to do so.

Capping a day of women mountaineers, Afsaneh Hesamifard became the first Iranian women to climb K2 on Friday morning, according to Mr. Haidri, who also said that Lebanese-Saudi fitness expert Nelly Attar is also on her way to the top of the summit.

Ms. Hesamifard became only the third woman to reach the top of Mount Everest in May this year, and she was hailed in Farsi-language posts on social media, according to Iranian media.