After latest feat in Hunza, 9-year-old girl sets her eyes on Mount Everest

After successfully climbing the 5,765-metre-high Quz Sar Peak in Hunza last week, nine-year-old 'Mountain Princess' from Abbottabad is now determined to scale the 8,848-metre high Mount Everest next year.

In her first interview to Gulf News after scaling the peak, nine-year-old Selena Khawaja said that she aims to claim the title of the world’s youngest Everest climber next year and beat the record of 13-year-old Indian girl Malavath Poorna, who climbed it in 2010.

Selena has already climbed the 5,765-metre-high Quz Sar Peak in Shimshal Valley located in the north of Pakistan and has become the youngest girl to climb it. The expedition took more than 10 days.

Sharing her fearful experiences of the Quz Sar journey, Selena said, “At 5,000 metres, I felt slight altitude sickness but my training and the support of my father helped me overcome it soon.”

Christened as the 'Mountain Princess’ by Pakistan’s mountaineer community, the young girl aims to ascend Broad Peak, which is the 12 highest mountains in the world. She also has her eyes on 6,050 metres Mingling Sar and 7,027 metres Spantik Peak.

Selena’s father, Yousaf Khawaja, who is also her mentor and mountain guide, accompanied her to the expedition proudly. He said he has full confidence in his daughter and that Selena would achieve her aim to climb Mount Everest. “Selena is way more fit than a casual 20-year-old.’’

The young climber said she wishes to inspire young kids to aim high, work hard and achieve their goals.