Two hundred kilometres from Hunza, and 3,300 metres above sea level, lies a small town known as Shimshal, home to 2,000 residents out of which one is 18-year-old Samina Khayal Baig, Pakistan’s first female mountaineer who is also the first person ever to climb the 6,400-metre peak known as Shimshal Pamir.

Born into a local family, Samina’s father is a farmer and she is the sixth and youngest amongst her siblings. “My father used to raise cattle and sell wheat and barley in the local community. My strength comes from my family who have been very supportive of me throughout these years, especially my brother Mirza Ali, who climbed a 6,050-metre peak at the age of 16, and my uncle, Yousaf Khan, a Tamgah-i-Basalat recipient, who brought laurels not only to Shimshal but to the whole of Hunza valley.”

Raised in a house made of clay and stone, Samina’s goal is to climb Mount Everest and K-2. She recently climbed Minghlighsar Peak which is 6,050 metres and became, yet again, the first female mountaineer in the world to reach 5,900 metres in winter season on this snow clad mountain. “I could not reach the summit as I was not well-equipped, my gear was not good enough to allow me to reach the top,” explains Samina, highlighting the conditions these unsung heroes and heroines of Pakistan go through to bring pride to their home land.

“Pakistani Government promotes, cricket, hockey and tennis but they have never paid any attention to adventure sports in which mountaineering tops the list” says Samina’s brother, Ali.

Shimshal has lots of stories to tell, as according to Ali, about 400 years ago it used to be a prison due to its treacherous terrain; a visitor has to cross the river at least 42 times in winter to reach Shimshal. Now titled the ‘Home of Mountains’, the valley’s other claim to fame is Rajab Shah, another proud son of Shimshal, who is the first Pakistani mountaineer to scale all five mountain peaks of 8,000 metres and a Pride of Performance award recipient as well. It is interesting to note that Pakistan is home to five out of fourteen of the world’s 8,000-metre mountains.

The zealous Samina who is soon to complete her 10th grade, wants to do her masters in Hotel industry and Tourism. “We used get mountaineers from all over the world; Italy, Germany, USA, Japan, you name it. Tourism was booming, and with hundred of mountaineers pouring in, all the local service-based industries, such as hotels, restaurants, rental services, etc., were doing fantastic business. Now due to terrorism, since 2006, the volume of visitors has been reduced to a three digit figure,” says Samina.

One out of every household in Shimshal is home to a mountaineer and a tourist guide. The education level among residents is very high due to the fact that the town is a tourist resort. It was due to their standard of education that the valley managed to pull through the recession time as, according to Samina, “The elders of the valley pay a lot of attention to education and for that reason people manage to find jobs in their respective fields when the season is in a dip.”  As for the future, this 19-year-old achiever dreams of the day when adventure sports are recognised as mainstream in the eyes of the Government of Pakistan with mountaineers bringing medals and honours back to Shimshal. For the moment she is happy enough to be on top of the world.