• Sirbaz Khan summited Nanga Parbat in 2017, to begin journey.
• Becomes the first Pakistani to summit Cho Oyu and Dhaulagiri.
• Returned to Annapurna, Kangchenjunga without bottled oxygen.

KARACHI: Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan has become the first and only person from the country to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks without using supplemental oxygen, completing the historic feat on Sunday by reaching the top of Kangchenjunga.

Khan, a resident of Hunza valley, summited the 8,586m peak at 11:50am local time, marking the culmination of a years-long quest. While he had previously climbed all 14 of the “eight-thousanders,” he had used bottled oxygen on two of those earlier ascents near the summit.

To achieve the no-oxygen distinction, he returned this season to climb Annapurna in April and Kangchenjunga in May, both without artificial oxygen support.

“Even though I had summited all 14×8000m peaks in the world, there was still something missing,” Sirbaz had said when he arrived at Annapurna earlier. “When I first announced my project after summiting Nanga Parbat in 2017, my aim was simple: 14×8000m summits without using O2, and that’s why I returned.”

Khan is among an elite group of around 70 climbers worldwide who have summited all 14 peaks above 8,000m. Less than 25 have done so entirely without supplemental oxygen, a feat that demands extreme endurance in the oxygen-deprived “death zone” above 8,000m.

His achievement comes in less than a year after he initially completed all 14 peaks, a milestone that had already cemented his place as one of Pakistan’s greatest high-altitude climbers. However, Khan sought to push further by re-climbing the two peaks where he had previously relied on oxygen.

Khan began his journey in 2017 when he successfully summited Nanga Parbat, a notoriously dangerous 8,126m peak. This marked the start of his journey to scale all of the world’s highest mountains. Later, he continued to conquer some of the most challenging peaks, including K2 in July 2018 and Lhotse in May 2019, where he became the first Pakistani to summit the 8,516m peak.

In July 2019, Khan added Broad Peak to his list of accomplishments, reaching its 8,051m summit without the use of supplementary oxygen, a feat that would become a hallmark of his climbs. Later that same year, in September, he scaled Manaslu in Nepal, becoming only the second Pakistani to reach its 8,163m summit.

Khan’s determination was unwavering, and in April 2021, he became the first Pakistani to summit Annapurna, one of the deadliest mountains in the world. The following month, he successfully summited Mount Everest, the highest peak on the planet, standing at 8,849m.

In July 2021, Khan led an all-Pakistani team to the summit of Gasherbrum II, standing at 8,035m, further cementing his reputation as a leader in high-altitude mountaineering. Just a few months later, in October 2021, he became the first Pakistani to summit Dhaulagiri, an 8,167m peak.

Khan continued to break barriers in 2022, summiting Kangchenjunga in May and Makalu later that month, becoming the first Pakistani to conquer both of these formidable mountains. In August of the same year, he led another successful expedition to Gasherbrum I, marking his 12th summit of an 8,000m peak.

In October 2023, Khan added Cho Oyu to his list of conquests, becoming the first Pakistani to summit the 8,188m peak. And, with his successful ascent of Shishapangma on October 4, 2024, he became the first Pakistani to conquer all 14 of the world’s highest peaks.

Now, by summitting Annapurna and Kangchenjunga again, this time without using supplementary oxygen, Sirbaz has added another feather to his cap.