I must admit that I have almost given up trying to keep track of who has climbed how many eight-thousanders, when, and in what style.
There are now so many commercial expeditions that it is – at least for me – hardly possible to keep track of them all and verify their success stories, which are mostly published on social media. The periods in which paying clients of commercial operators “tick off” the 14 eight-thousanders are also getting shorter and shorter. Therefore, I make no claim to completeness.
Today, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, board member of the Nepalese operator Seven Summit Treks, announced via Instagram the summit success of a five-member team on the 8,188-meter-high Cho Oyu in Tibet. Afsaneh Hesamifard was also part of the team, completing her collection of the 14 eight-thousanders (with bottled oxygen) – the first woman from Iran to do so.
It took her three and a half years to achieve the feat. Cho Oyu was Afsaneh’s third eight-thousander this year, after Kangchenjunga in spring and Dhaulagiri in fall.
In 2022 on Mount Everest and K2
The 48-year-old describes herself as a professional climber on her own Instagram account. That alone is remarkable in Iran, where women are known to have a difficult time under the mullah regime.
Hesamifard, who comes from the province of North Khorasan in northeastern Iran, is a doctor. It was only at the age of 23, while studying medicine, that Afsaneh discovered mountaineering for herself. In fall 2021, she attempted an eight-thousander for the first time, but did not reach the so-called “True Summit,” the highest point at the end of the summit ridge, on Manaslu. She made up for that in 2024.
In spring 2022, she scaled Mount Everest, and in the fall of the same year, she became the first woman from Iran to summit K2.
“Many more peaks to climb”
“For me, the path is just as steep as the summit,” Afsaneh wrote on Instagram in August. “I have learned that having a goal, a hope, a plan is a way of life. I still have a long way to go; there are many more peaks to climb. Whether outside or deep inside myself.”
Until now, Azim Gheichisaz was considered the only Iranian to have scaled all eight-thousanders – even though he did not stand on the True Summit of Manaslu in 2012.
Chhiring Sherpa also completes his collection
Yesterday, Monday, Nepalese Chhiring Sherpa, head of the operator Expedition Base, also completed his collection of eight-thousanders on Cho Oyu.
In summer 2022, he made headlines when he climbed K2 via the normal route in just 12 hours, 20 minutes, and 23 seconds from base camp to the summit.
P.S.: The most reliable and accurate information about eight-thousander collectors can still be found on Eberhard Jurgalski’s website 8000ers.com.
