Mountaineer Sheikha Asma bint Thani al-Thani has become the first Qatari woman to reach the summit of Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America and one of the Seven Summits, at a height of 6,190m.
With this, she is just one summit away from completing the Explorers Grand Slam, which involves climbing all Seven Summits and reaching the North and South poles.
"Achievements keep coming. Mountaineering legend Sheikha Asma bint Thani al-Thani becomes the first Qatari woman to reach the summit of Mount Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America and one of the Seven Summits, with a height of 6,190m," Qatar Olympic Committee tweeted about Sheikha Asma's feat.
Besides being the first Qatari woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Sheikha Asma recently became the first Arab to reach the summit of Mount Kangchenjunga – the world’s third highest mountain located between Nepal and India at an elevation of 8,586m. In January, she had become the first Qatari to ski to both North and South poles.
Also, less than 24 hours after reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Sheikha Asma recently became the first Qatari woman to scale Mount Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516m.
Sheikha Asma is attempting to become the first woman from the Middle East to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, which involves climbing all Seven Summits (Mount Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif, Puncak Jaya and Mount Elbrus) and reaching the North and South poles.
She has now completed eight of the nine challenges — Kilimanjaro in 2014, the North Pole in 2018, Aconcagua in 2019, Mount Elbrus in 2021 and Vinson Massif, South Pole, Mount Everest and Mount Denali this year.
Narrating her experience of reaching the summit of Mount Denali, Sheikha Asma said in an Instagram post: "Denali you have been amazing. 4 days from drop-off to summit and out. A whirlwind of a climb, filled with beautiful scenery, changing weather, all the emotions you can imagine and lots and lots of strawberry jam."
She also noted that "climbing with the 2 legends, Nimsdai and Mingma David Sherpa, made it even more memorable. So grateful to be climbing and learning from the best."
Nimsdai, or Nirmal Purja, is a Nepal-born naturalised British mountaineer and a holder of multiple mountaineering world records. Mingma David (Gyabu) Sherpa, is a Nepalese mountaineer and rescue climber. He was the youngest person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, and held the Guinness World Record for 'Fastest time to climb Everest and K2', which he did within 61 days.
Sheikha Asma also said "6 out of 7" summits completed, with only one (Puncak Jaya) more to go.
"Remember your dreams do matter. Go for them like your life depends on it. The present moment was created by all the moments that came before and the future is created by the decisions that we make today," she continued. "Work hard. Be consistent. Trust yourself to know that you are in control of your own destiny."