1st Pakistani Woman to Climb Everest Has Taller Goal: Equality

aconcagua — The south face of Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, at 22,841 feet (6,962 meters) above sea level. (Image credit: Johnathan Esper | Shutterstock)

Earlier this year, Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest, battling punishing conditions to reach the 29,029-foot (8,848 meters) summit in June. Now, the intrepid trailblazer is setting her sights on loftier goals: To climb seven mountains around the world to promote women's rights and to call attention to the effects of climate change.

Baig, 21, and her brother, Mirza Ali Baig, aim to summit seven peaks around the world, including Mount Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica; Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain in the Americas; and others in Nepal, Russia and Indonesia, according to AFP. The brother-sister duo is scheduled to begin the ambitious expedition on Saturday (Nov. 30).

Samina hopes her journey will inspire women around the world, particularly in her home country of Pakistan, where many females face discrimination and domestic violence. "I want to tell women in developing countries that they are as powerful as their male counterparts and they can play an equal role in their respective societies," Samina told AFP.

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Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.