365bet�����������籭

• 'In Dubai ... there aren’t a lot of high mountains. The highest mountain is about 2,000 meters. So, I didn’t have the background. I had to figure it out,' Deryan tells Anadolu
• 'I felt that I was now carrying a responsibility … for the next generation, for other women, for young girls to continue breaking barriers,' says Deryan

ISTANBUL

Fatima Deryan never forgot the view from her plane window years ago.

She was 14 years old, flying over the Himalayas on a family trip to Nepal, when she looked out and saw Mount Everest for the first time. The sight of the world’s tallest mountain towering above the rest of the Himalayas sparked something inside her.

“I came off that plane and told my family, ‘One day I’m going to come back and climb that mountain’," Deryan told Anadolu in an interview. “No one took me seriously.”

More than a decade later, she did exactly that, becoming the first Lebanese woman to summit Everest.

“Ten years later, I met this person who actually climbed Mount Everest, and he was talking about his story. So, when I listened to that story, I went straight up to him and I said, How can I do it? I know it’s my dream,” she said.

Born in Kuwait and raised in Lebanon and Dubai, Deryan’s path to Everest’s peak and the world of mountaineering was anything but conventional. Her pursuit began with a long-held dream and grew into a mission: to conquer the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. She’s now climbed more than 25 high-altitude mountains.

“So, I just went on to climb my first mountain, and it turned out to be the highest mountain in Europe. It was called Mount Elbru,s and I just fell in love with mountaineering,” she said.

‘I was not aware of the mountains’

With mountaineering still a largely male-dominated world, Deryan’s journey was shaped not only by physical challenges but also by gender-based and personal ones.

Moreover, she grew up in Dubai, a city far removed from any rugged mountain terrain.

“I was not aware of the mountains,” Deryan said.

“I grew up in Dubai, and in Dubai, as you know, there’s not a lot of high mountains. The highest mountain is about 2,000 meters (6,562 feet). So, I didn’t have the background. I had to figure it out. I had to travel out and learn more about it.”

What she lacked in experience, she made up for with grit. But winning over her family — and society — proved even harder than learning how to climb.

“To change that in my family was already hard work. But then to change that in society was even harder,” she said.

The struggle, she said, pushed her to adopt a growth mindset — one that embraces learning and resilience in the face of obstacles.

Her philosophy is grounded in the belief that failure is just part of the journey.

“I need to be the best or nothing,” she said.

“We never stop learning, whether on the mountains, whether in life, whether whatever we’re doing. As long as we’re trying and we’re learning, we keep on going.”

‘There is always a doubt’

As a woman stepping into extreme sports, Deryan said she often found herself in unfamiliar and unwelcome territory.

“It was alien,” she said of how mountaineering was perceived when she first started. “What are you doing here? How come you’re here?” strangers would ask.

She was often met with skepticism and had to prove herself time and again.

“I have to carry extra weight to say, ‘Look, I am capable.’ Just proving yourself all the time is exhausting,” she said.

“There’s always a doubt. And then it’s not only that, it’s confirmed by people around us, whether it’s family, whether it’s society. And it’s such a struggle to be in that position.”

Still, she persisted and eventually began to change minds. After two decades living in Dubai, her achievements were recognized with a UAE Golden Visa, an honor that acknowledged her trailblazing accomplishments.

Today, she sees more women entering the field, a shift she welcomes. But the barriers, she said, are still real.

‘Responsibility for the next generation’

“When I climbed Everest, I really climbed it for myself because it was the dream of the 14-year-old girl,” Deryan said.

But reaching the summit of Everest came with an unexpected realization. Her success was not just personal. It had become symbolic. “I felt that I was now carrying a responsibility,” she said.

“A responsibility for the next generation, for other women, for young girls to continue breaking barriers and do what they want to do. For them to carve their own path, to follow their dreams.”

Deryan has made a habit of rewriting what is possible. In 2023, she became the first Lebanese woman to ski to the South Pole, another achievement that added to her growing legacy.

Her next goal is to reach the North Pole once it reopens to explorers, a journey she is eager to take as part of her larger purpose.

Even after ticking off one record-breaking feat after another, she says the drive to do more has not faded.

“The purpose is bigger,” she said of her polar expedition. “And it pushed me to do more.”

Now, as a mother, Deryan says her sense of purpose has only deepened. She remains determined to chase her own dreams—because she wants her daughter to know that hers should come first, too.