The Last Ascent: Sirbaz Khan’s Chapter Of Glory

Sirbaz Khan summited Mount Kangchenjunga becoming the first Pakistani to join an elite list of climbers who have climbed all 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.

High-altitude climbing pushes the human body to its absolute limits, especially in the notorious “death zone” above 8,000 meters, where oxygen levels are too low to sustain life for long.

There are 14 such peaks including Everest and K2. In this extreme environment, every step becomes a battle against hypoxia, freezing temperatures, and crushing exhaustion.

Climbers must rely on deep mental focus, physical endurance, and precise decisions — because mistakes here can be fatal. The death zone is where survival depends not just on skill, but on sheer will.

Sirbaz Khan, 35, from Hunza in Gilgit-Baltistan, began his mountaineering career in 2016 and summited Nanga Parbat in 2017. He then became the first Pakistani to scale Lhotse in 2019 and went on to conquer Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in 2021, and Makalu in 2022 — all without bottled oxygen.