Team of 11 Saudi women conquers Everest

The Saudi women climbers display their national flag at Everest Base Camp

The climbers on their way to Everest Base Camp

The climbers displaying the Saudi flag and a banner of the sponsors of their campaign

The Saudi team's thank you to their journey organizers, Wild Guanabana

Bravissimo!

Here are pictures of the team of 11 lionhearted Saudi women who have just conquered Mount Everest. (The photo originals are from their Facebook page).

They are shown proudly raising Saudi Arabia’s national flag at Everest Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 meters, or 17,598 feet.

The pink climbers Tuesday started making their way back to the village of Pheriche. They will spend the night there and make their way down to the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar today, Wednesday.

They started their campaign -- dubbed “A Woman’s Journey – Destination Mount Everest” – the night of May 6-7, when they flew out to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on the first leg of a two-week journey. The expedition is meant to promote awareness of breast cancer, express moral support for women sufferers and underscore the importance of healthier lifestyles and physical fitness.

The 11 Saudi heroines who took the breast cancer fight to the earth’s highest mountain – and who I introduced in an earlier post --are HRH Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan, Alya Al-Sa'ad, Hatun Madani, Mona Shahab, Noura Bouzo, Lina Al-Maeena, Samaher Mously, Asma Al-Ghalib, Mashael Al-Hegelan, Hasna’a Mokhtar and Raha Moharrak.

My heartfelt wishes for a safe journey home. Your triumph is a source of pride for women and men throughout the Arab world.

Saudi pink Everesters are on course

The garlanded climbers pose for a picture (top right) before taking the long
flight to Kathmandu the night of May 6-7. A small plane (right) took them
the early morning of May 8 to Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla. The photo to the
left shows the group relaxing outside an authentic Sherpa home in Lukla

Eleven Saudi women flew out the night of May 6-7 to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on the first leg of their two-week journey to try and scale Mount Everest.

Their campaign -- dubbed “A Woman’s Journey – Destination Mount Everest” – aims to promote awareness of breast cancer, express moral support for women sufferers and underscore the importance of healthier lifestyles and physical fitness.

All 11 Saudi women taking the breast cancer fight to the earth’s highest mountain – who I introduced in an earlier post -- have relatives or friends who fought or are fighting the ailment.

Led by HRH Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the driving force behind the May 7-21 campaign, they are: Alya Al-Sa'ad, Hatun Madani, Mona Shahab, Noura Bouzo, Lina Al-Maeena, Samaher Mously, Asma Al-Ghalib, Mashael Al-Hegelan, Hasna’a Mokhtar and Raha Moharrak.

Here is a photo update on their progress so far. The photo originals are from their Facebook page:

From Lukla, the trek led the climbers to the banks of the Dudh Koshi (or milky
river, inset) and on to the town of Phakding, where they are shown resting

May 9: The Saudi pink mountaineers seen crossing the confluence of the Dudh Koshi and

Bothe Koshi on a high-suspension bridge before their steep climb to reach Namche Bazaar

Seven of the climbers pose for the camera on the way to Namche Bazaar (inset)

This May 10 group photo of the 11 girls was taken outside Hotel Camp de Base

in Namche Bazaar. They were to set out this Friday morning on a six-hour

trek to Thyangboche at 3,780 meters. Thyangboche is the spiritual center for the Khumbu,

a training center for new monks. It is also the home of the famous Sherpas

One of the Saudi pink climbers nailing a "Fight Like a Girl" T-shirt

onto the wall of a local cafe in Namche Bazaar. This is a

common tradition for all Mount Everest Base Camp trekkers!