THE HIMALAYAS – As Liliya Ianovskaia stands on the doorstep of Nanga Parbat, the Canmore mountaineer knows even one mistake on the path to its summit could be deadly.
In the western pocket of the Himalayas, the world’s ninth-highest peak, dubbed “Killer Mountain”, is unforgiving. Rockfalls are regular; its sheer faces prone to avalanches and steep grade unrelenting for all 8,126 metres.
But a good challenge is exactly why Ianovskaia has come.
“There are so many levels of danger,” said Ianovskaia, 66, who became the oldest woman to summit the peak on July 1 after 11 hours of climbing.
“There was no margin for error. You have to keep your nerves in check pretty much all the time.”
Ianovskaia is no stranger to the giants of the mountaineering world, having stared down 11 of the world’s 14 highest mountains that measure over 8,000 metres, including Everest and K2, which she completed within two months of each other in 2022.
“Most of the … 8,000 metre peaks in the Himalayas, they are fixed with ropes, so you have some safety margin, you have some protection. But there was nothing like that on Nanga Parbat. Pretty much everything was done alpine style,” she said.
“There are so many accounts of how challenging the mountain is. That really was the huge attraction for me.”
After an attempt to secure a Pakistan visa to climb the peak in 2025, Ianovskaia had to push the expedition to this year and summited only a month after climbing another of the world’s 14 8,000ers: Kangchenjunga in Nepal.
“Before I got to Nanga Parbat, I thought that Kangchenjunga would be the [most challenging] but no, that is definitely Nanga Parbat,” she said of the mountain that historically has one of the highest fatality rates of any 8,000 metre peak.
Hunkered down at basecamp before the summit push, the grandeur of the mountain that is so steep that not even snow can grip all of its faces was right before Ianovskaia’s eyes – along with its dark history.
In 2013, a terrorist attack carried out by local militia at the mountain’s basecamp left 11 people dead, including 10 foreign climbers and a local guide.
“[It’s a] beautiful mountain with such a bloody and difficult history and challenging climb,” Ianovskaia said, recalling the bullet shell her friend found on the ground outside their tent.
“It was pretty scary staying at the base camp,” she said. “You have all the flowers and greenery and such a tranquil place, so it’s very contradictory.”
But high on the summit, Ianovskaia felt only relief.
While she took a quick photo with the Canadian and Belarusian flags, something that has become a tradition for the Belarusian-born climber, unlike other treks Ianovskaia wouldn’t take out her Garmin inReach to message her daughters until she had two feet firmly planted in basecamp.
“Coming down you have to be paying even more attention because if you trip or something, you can fly all the way down there,” she said of the mountain that also boasts the world’s highest vertical wall.
“You really have to think about the time of the day when you do the specific section of the mountain and still there is no guarantee.”
‘I can make my dream real’
Wherever Ianovskaia is, plans for another expedition probably aren’t far behind.
Growing up in Belarus, dreams of the mountains first came through books and the stories of legendary Polish climbers like Wanda Rutkiewicz, but Ianovskaia wouldn’t set foot on a mountain herself until age 50.
“Just little by little I found out that I can make my dream real and I enjoyed it. I love challenge,” she said, noting she started with fitness through marathons and both ice and rock climbing before tackling mountains across Central and South America and Europe.
Three grandkids later, Ianovskaia has a whole lot of firsts to her name, including being the oldest woman to summit many of the world’s major peaks, the first Canadian woman to summit K2 in Nepal and alongside her daughter, Dasha Ianovskaia, the third mother-daughter team to summit Everest.
But Ianovskaia doesn’t think too much about the titles.
“I think the most important [thing] is that it is very motivational for other people,” she said. “It is motivational that at pretty much any stage of your life you can find a huge challenge and just go for it. You can be great at that.”
On a summit, everyone is on the same “planet” no matter age, she says.
“Honestly, I don’t feel that old. Whenever I go on expeditions mostly they’re younger people, but sometimes they’re people my age and I just feel that we all belong there. Sometimes I’m stronger than the younger people, sometimes not.”
Still, after more than 30 expeditions, Ianovskaia knows no matter your ability level, the mountains have the final word.
“You have to be humble again because you cannot stand against nature.”
More records on the horizon
Fewer than 20 women have reported climbing all 14 of the world’s highest mountains.
The Canmore alpinist is well on her way to adding her name to that list. With Nanga Parbat complete, only three remain: Shishapangma in Tibet Pakistan’s Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak.
“That wasn’t my plan originally, but climbing these mountains and at this point I have 11 of them climbed … so I probably will keep going,” Ianovskaia said lightheartedly.
After returning to Canmore a week after the summit, Ianovskaia is right back into training in hopes of tackling Shishapangma this October.
“It is always difficult climbing in Tibet because in China sometimes they just don’t give permits,” Ianovskaia said.
“ In the meantime, I will be climbing here in Canadian Rockies, which are sometimes even harder … mountains,” she added with a laugh.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. This position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jul 20, 2026 at 09:34
Recent Comments