Muscat – Nadhira Al Harthy, who transformed herself from a geography teacher into one of the Arab world’s foremost mountaineers, died after an avalanche struck an international expedition on Broad Peak in Pakistan.

Pakistani authorities confirmed that Nadhira was among those killed on the 8,051m mountain in the Karakoram range. Oman’s Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences and said coordination was underway with Pakistani authorities to repatriate her remains.

Her death brought to a close a journey that began far from the world of professional sport. Nadhira often described herself as a dreamer before a climber. She had worked as a teacher, curriculum developer and education official before discovering mountaineering through an expedition involving Omani students. The experience led her from Oman’s rocky mountains and wadis to the world’s highest summits.

Inspired by Khalid Al Siyabi, the first Omani to climb Everest, she trained for two years in running, swimming, hiking, climbing and caving. She reached the summit on May 23, 2019, becoming the first Omani woman to stand on the world’s highest point.

That climb was only the beginning.

She became the first Omani woman to summit Manaslu in 2021, K2 in 2022 and Switzerland’s Matterhorn in 2023. She was the first Omani atop K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.

In 2021, she became the first Arab woman to conquer Ama Dablam, one of the Himalayas’ most technical peaks. Tributes following her death also recognised her as the first Arab to summit Nanga Parbat and Gasherbrum II in 2024, achievements that placed her among the region’s most accomplished high-altitude climbers.

But those who followed her journey saw more than records. They saw a woman who spoke openly about fear, sacrifice, failed attempts and beginning again.

“An Omani woman is limitless,” she wrote on Omani Women’s Day, urging women not to be confined by expectations or defined only by their achievements.

She also served young people through Oman Scouts and Guides, environmental education and adventure programmes. Her life connected the classroom with the mountain, and personal ambition with national pride.

Her legacy rests not only on the summits she reached, but on the boundaries she shifted – for Omani sport, for Arab mountaineering and for women who saw in her life proof that ambition did not require permission.