Nadhira Alharthy - First Omani Woman to summit Mt Everest (2019) and First Arab Woman to summit Mt Amadablam (2021).

Aug 14, 2021

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In May 2019, Nadhira Al Harthy became the first Omani woman and the second Omani to climb Mount Everest. The inspiration for wanting to climb Mt. Everest was meeting the first Omani man, Khalid Al Siyabi who summited in 2010. Nadhira was so inspired by his achievement, that she decided in 2017 that she too wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world. Up until this point Nadhira was not sporty and was not really that active, she was starting everything from zero. She had no knowledge of the mountains, and had never been climbing before. Nadhira gave herself two years to gain the skills and knowledge needed to achieve her dream. Khalid, was now a good friend and had become her mentor and trainer. He designed her physical training plan and had her running, hiking, climbing and lifting weights as well as working on her mindset. Nadhira kept all of this a secret from her friends and family and only told them two months before she headed off to Nepal in 2019. Whilst at Everest base camp, preparing to summit, she heard the sad news that Khalid, her trainer and mentor had suffered a stroke and passed away. Dealing with this loss, Nadhira decided to continue on with her summit attempt and wanted to reach the top to celebrate the man who had inspired her. Nadhira reached the summit of Mt. Everest of the 23rd May 2019, 9 years to the day after Khalid had summited. Nadhira is one of a growing number of Arab women who are following their dreams of climbing mountains despite resistance from their families and society. Nadhira continues to inspire other Muslim women to step outside their comfort zone and to try new things, many of whom have now been encouraged to participate in outdoor sports after hearing her story. Her next goal is to climb all of the 14 mountain peaks across the world that stand taller than 8,000m, dubbed by NASA as the Eight Thousanders. New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out. The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Show notes

Who is Nadhira
Coming from a big family
Not being that active when she was younger
Deciding to climb Mt. Everest in 2017
Telling the youth to try new thing and to be open minded for new experiences
Having 9 brothers and 6 sisters
Not having children
Having 32 nieces and 28 nephews
How her family have accepted her hiking and supported her
Where her idea to climb Mt. Everest came from
Why it was her destiny to climb Mt. Everest
Meeting Khalid al-Siyabi, the first man from Oman to climb Mt. Everest
Keeping her dream a secret from her friends and family
Being coached by Khalid al-Siyabi and starting to hike and climb in Oman
Paying for Mt. Everest and managing to get half of the trip sponsored
Meeting the Ambassador of Nepal
Deciding to invest in herself
When her family and friends found out
Not caring what other people think
Dealing with the negativity and the risks
Knowing that her mum was praying for her on the mountain
What happened during 2017 and 2019
Making her training the number 1 priority
Hating running but knowing she needed to for her stamina
Running 400K and doing the UTMB Oman
Learning more about her body and figuring out her nutrition and hydration
The mountains in Oman
Getting to Everest Base Camp in 2019 and not knowing anyone else
Being very quiet and keeping to herself at the start
Living there for 50 days
Putting herself first and being her own best friend
The mental side of the challenge and pushing herself hard
Learning that her coach and mentor Khalid al-Siyabi died while at base camp
The final push to the summit and making her dreams come true
Climbing Ama Dablam, in Nepal, (6,812 metres /22,349 ft)
Working with young people to inspire them
Final words of advice
Why you have to work hard to achieve your dreams

Social Media Instagram: @alharthynoor