Kosovo Woman Aims to Climb All 14 Himalayan Peaks

After scaling the two highest peaks in the Himalayas, Everest and Manasulu, Kosovo alpinist Uta Ibrahimi said on Monday that she intends to climb the rest of the mountains in the range by 2023.

"My plan is to climb two peaks a year for the next six years," Ibrahimi told a press conference in Pristina.

The first part of her mission, entitled '14 Utalaya Himalaya' is expected to start on April or May this year, and will see her climbing the 8,516-metre Mount Lhotse, located between Nepal and Tibet, the fourth highest mountain on earth.

Later this year, she plans to also climb the world's second-highest mountain, K2, at the border between China and Pakistan.

"K2 is known as the most dangerous peak in world," Ibrahimi said.

"I truly hope that I will make it and will be back here together with you again," she added.

Ibrahimi said that she wants her mission to raise awareness among tourists about Kosovo and Albania's highlands, mountains and natural environment.

She also said that she wants to raise awareness about gender issues and to make Albanians proud.

"My expeditions should be seen as achievements for Kosovo and for the Albanian nation as a whole. I will be forever carrying both flags at every peak, reminding me of the small country I come from and what achievements we can reach," she said.

Her trainer, Xhimi Begeja, the head of the Albania-based Dajti Alpin Association, described Ibrahimi as a phenomenon.

"After she did the two highest peaks, now I feel relieved and I trust this expedition," Begeja said.

Ibrahimi also appealed for support from state institutions and for donations to cover the cost of her mission.

As part of her fundraising efforts, a video of her experience climbing the two...

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