Last weekend, the first female amputee, the first Saudi Arabian woman, the first Palestinian, the first Qatari, the first Pakistani women and the first set of twins all reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
Via: Tim Chong / Reuters
Over the past week, Mt. Everest has seen a string of firsts and many new records have been set. The climbers below have triumphed over nature, and in some cases tragedy, to become to reach the world's highest peak.
Twenty-five year-old Raha Moharrak became the first Saudi woman AND the youngest Arab to climb Mt. Everest when she reached the top of the mountain on Saturday. Moharrak was part of a four-person expedition (dubbed the "Arabs with Altitude") who attempted the climb to raise money for education projects in Nepal.
In a biography on the expedition's website, Moharrak said that convincing her family, who live in Jeddah, to agree to her climb "was as great a challenge as the mountain itself." Women's rights in Saudi Arabia are notoriously restrictive and Moharrak hopes that she can lead the way for a generation of female Saudi climbers.
"I really don't care about being the first," she said. "So long as it inspires someone else to be the second."
