Famous mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen, who conquered Pakistan's K2 – the second-highest mountain in the world – as the first Bangladeshi and Bangalee, was flooded with greetings as she returned home on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old reached the summit of K2, considered the toughest and most dangerous mountain to climb, on July 22.
She had initially planned to conquer K2 last year coinciding with the celebration of the 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence, but she had to postpone due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“…I have done this for Bangladesh from my heart. This is not my win, it’s a win of every Bangladeshi at home and abroad,” Wasfia told reporters and guests at a city hotel upon her return after two months.
She also thanked every Bangladeshi, including Renata Limited – the sponsor of the event – for her success.
Besides being the world’s second-highest peak at 8,611 meters (28,250 feet), K2 on the China-Pakistan border in the Karakoram Range is known as far more difficult to climb than Everest due to its notoriously fickle weather. Also, it is one of the deadliest as only over 400 people have so far scaled it since 1954, but one in every four climbers who succeed in reaching its summit in spite of its devastating brutal weather and rock was killed mostly on their way back.
Wasfia said she was working on a documentary and a book on her K2 expedition. She is also working on a cartoon book with artist Morshed Mishu on the expedition which is expected to be released at the next Amar Ekushey book fair.
What makes Wasfia so dynamic
A multi-dimensional talent, Wasfia is a known face as a human rights defender, environmentalist, writer, educator, pilot and producer. But she is mostly known for being the only Bangladeshi and the first Bangalee to climb the Seven Summits or, the highest mountains of every continent.
In 2011, on the occasion of Bangladesh's 40 years of independence, Wasfia took up the challenge called “Bangladesh on Seven Summits” to climb the highest mountain in each of the seven continents. She was the first Bangladeshi to take up such a challenge.
The campaign was a tribute to those women and men, who, through sheer resolve, overcame enormous ordeals for the birth of Bangladesh.
Wasfia Nazreen FacebookOn May 26, 2012, she became the second woman from Bangladesh to summit Mount Everest. She also scaled South America's Aconcagua and Africa's Kilimanjaro.
Wasfia has won numerous national and global awards for her activism and commitment to empowering women through the field of adventure.
Wasfia was named an Adventurer of the Year 2014-15 by National Geographic. She was also named by Men's Journal as one of the 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years and by Outside magazine as one of 40 women in the last 40 years who have advanced and challenged the outdoor world through their leadership, innovation, and athletic feats.