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Updated 18 May, 2013 07:57pm

First Saudi woman scales Mount Everest

KATMANDU: Mountaineering officials say 64 climbers, including a Saudi Arabian woman, have successfully scaled Mount Everest from Nepal’s side of the mountain.

Tilak Padney of Nepal’s Mountaineering Department says 35 foreigners accompanied by 29 Nepalese Sherpa guides reached the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak on Saturday morning after climbing all night from the highest camp on South Col.

All were reported to be safe.

Among them was Raha Moharrak, 25, who became the first Saudi Arabian woman to scale the world’s highest peak.

According to a BBC report, Moharrak is now also the youngest Arab to make it to the top of the Everest. The 25-year-old is part of a four-person expedition that also includes the first Qatari man and the first Palestinian to reach the summit.

Among Raha’s previous ascents are Kilimanjaro, Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus, Aconcagua, Kala Pattar, Pico de Orizaba, and Iztacchuatl.

A biography on the expedition website said convincing Moharrak's family to agree to her climb “was as great a challenge as the mountain itself”, though they fully support her now.

“I really don't care about being the first…so long as it inspires someone else to be second,” she was quoted as saying.

Everest can be climbed from either Nepal or Tibet. May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather.

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