Sirbaz Khan becomes only Pakistani to scale all 14 highest peaks without O2 support

GILGIT: Renowned Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan on Sunday successfully scaled Kangchenjunga (8,586 metres) in Nepal without using supplementary oxygen.

With this extraordinary feat, Sirbaz becomes the first Pakistani to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks without oxygen support.

“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr Sirbaz Khan — our dear friend, client, and partner from Pakistan — on his incredible achievement of summiting Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the world’s third-highest mountain, without supplemental oxygen this morning, 18 May 2025,” expedition organiser Imagine Nepal announced on social media.

Sirbaz had previously summited Kangchenjunga in May 2022 with oxygen support. The latest ascent was aimed at completing the full 14×8000 challenge without supplemental oxygen.

In October 2024, he completed all 14 eight-thousanders with the summit of Shishapangma (8,027 m) in Tibet. However, some of these climbs were done using oxygen. With today’s ascent of Kangchenjunga without oxygen, he has now completed all 14 peaks without using bottled oxygen.

Sirbaz, 38, hails from Aliabad village in the Hunza district of Gilgit-Baltistan and began his mountaineering career in 2017 with the successful ascent of Nanga Parbat (8,126 m).

He has summited K2 three times, in 2018, 2022, and 2024, and climbed Mount Everest twice, in 2021 and 2024. He also completed two ascents each of Annapurna and Kangchenjunga.

In July 2019, Sirbaz climbed Broad Peak (8,051 metres) without the use of supplementary oxygen. Later that year, in September, he scaled Manaslu in Nepal, becoming the second Pakistani after Shehroze Kashif to summit the 8,163-metre peak. In April 2021, he became the first Pakistani to summit Annapurna, initially using oxygen support. The following month, he summited Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain at 8,849 metres.

Sirbaz continued his momentum in July 2021 by climbing Gasherbrum-II, which stands at 8,035 metres. In October that same year, he became the first Pakistani to summit Dhaulagiri, an 8,167-metre peak in Nepal. In May 2022, he summited Kangchenjunga and Makalu (8,481 metres), both in Nepal. In August 2022, he climbed Gasherbrum-I (8,080 metres), the 11th highest mountain in the world. In October 2023, he added Cho Oyu (8,188 metres) to his list, becoming the first Pakistani to summit the peak. In October 2024, he summited Shishapangma (8,027 metres), completing all 14 of the world’s highest mountains.

In April this year he scaled the 8,091-metre- high Mount Annapurna in Nepal without using supplementary oxygen and today he scaled Kanchenjunga, the 3rd-highest mountain in the world without O2 support.

Karrar Haidri, Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, congratulated Sirbaz Khan on this historic feat, saying “Sirbaz Khan has made the entire nation proud. Completing all 14 eight-thousanders without oxygen is a rare and heroic achievement. He is a symbol of Pakistani resilience, skill, and courage on the highest peaks of the world.”

He said Sirbaz Khan’s mountaineering journey was not just a story of summits, but a powerful testament to human endurance and national pride.” His mission has always been to represent Pakistan on the world’s highest stages and inspire the next generation of climbers to follow his path with the same passion and perseverance,” he added.

Also read: Sajid Sadpara scales Dhaulagiri without supplementary oxygen