Doha: Sheikha Asma Al Thani, a Qatari royal is set to scale Everest, as she chases her dream of becoming the first woman from the Middle East to complete the Explorers Grand Slam of summiting each continent's highest peaks and reaching the poles. Sheikha, a mountaineer and a member of the Qatar Olympic Committee has arrived in Nepal's capital Kathmandu on Thursday and is now prepared to head to the base camp of Everest.
She is expected to attempt to ascend the 8,848-meter (29,031 feet), Mount Everest, in mid-May, depending on local conditions. If she succeeds, she will become the first Qatari woman in history to summit the world's tallest mountain.
Her ultimate dream is to be the first of many Qatari women to achieve such adventurous sports projects. She also wants to inspire the next generation of women to achieve their dreams.
"These are the stereotypes people have with women and for me, it's the idea that no matter what, we can achieve our dreams," she told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
She was among the first group of Qatari women to climb Kilimanjaro. As a senior female official in the Qatar Olympics Committee, she is involved in some of the major Qatari sports projects and is a key driving force behind them.