Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

The Conversation: Is mountain climbing worth the risk?

Magazines & Reviews

Samina Baig (credit Mirza Ali) & Masha Gordon (credit Eric Larsen)

30/09/2019 GMT

Is mountain climbing worth the risk?

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Is mountain climbing worth the risk?

Two record-breaking female mountaineers discuss the risks and the rewards.

Mountain climbing is a notoriously high-risk, high-reward activity.  Yassmin Abdel-Magied asks two pioneering female climbers who've scaled the world's highest peaks, if the danger and death toll affect women's participation.

Masha Gordon is a Russian explorer who has broken the speed records for the Seven Summits Challenge (climbing the highest peak on each continent) and the Explorer's Grand Slam (the Seven Summits plus reaching the North and South Poles). Masha had a highly successful career in finance and only started climbing in her mid-30s whilst on maternity leave. She is the founder of Grit & Rock, a UK charity which gives teenage girls from deprived backgrounds the opportunity to complete a year-long mountaineering programme.

Samina Baig is the first Pakistani woman to summit Mt Everest, and to complete all Seven Summits.  She grew up in a one-room house in her mountain village, where she would often see groups of foreigners coming to climb the surrounding peaks but she never saw any Pakistani women among them. In 2010, aged 19, she decided to change all that and soon had a mountain named after her.

Image
L: Samina Baig - credit Mirza Ali
R: Masha Gordon - credit Eric Larsen

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Conversation

Is mountain climbing worth the risk?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service