A Qatari royal is set to scale Everest, as she chases her dream of becoming the first woman from the Middle East to complete the Explorers Grand Slam of summiting each continent’s highest peaks and reaching the poles.
Sheikha Asma Al Thani, a mountaineer and member of the Qatar Olympic Committee, arrived in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on Thursday and is prepared to head to Everest base camp.
She is expected to attempt to ascend the 8,848-metre (29,031 feet) mountain in mid-May, depending on local conditions. If she succeeds, she will become the first woman from Qatar to summit the world’s tallest mountain.
Sheikha Asma first dreamt of reaching the skies in 2003 when she was just 14, writing “climbing mountains” on her wish list.
At that time, no woman from the Gulf region had reached Everest’s summit.
Years later as she set out on conquering each peak to achieve the Slam, Sheikha Asma was questioned about her abilities — from being able to climb to carrying mountaineering gear — because she was a woman.
“These are the stereotypes people have with women and for me, it’s the idea that no matter what, we can achieve our dreams,” she told AFP.
The 31-year-old began her journey as a mountaineer in 2014 by summiting Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak.
