EVEREST - First Saudi woman climbs to top of Everest

   Raha Moharrak, 27, says she wants to inspire other 

   women to scale world's highest mountain.

More than 3,000 people have scaled Everest but the mountain claims lives regularly [GALLO/GETTY]

A 27-year-old graphic design graduate has become the first ever Saudi woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

Raha Moharrak is the only female in a group of four Arabs who announced two months ago that they would be reaching the summit in 2013.

"The first ever Saudi woman to attempt Everest has reached the top!! Bravo Raha Moharrak. We salute you," said a tweet from the group.

The "Arabs with Altitude" group includes Mohammed Al Thani, a member of Qatar's royal family, Raed Zidan, a Palestinian real-estate businessman and Masoud Mohammad, an Iranian living in Dubai who owns an ice-cream franchise.

Ahead of her trip, Moharrak said: “I really don’t care about being the first ... so long as it inspires someone else to be the second."

Moharrak went to university in Sharjah, UAE, and is originally from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

"We are trying to raise one million dollars for Nepali education projects during our climb to the top," the group said on its website.

More than 3,000 people have successfully scaled Everest, but the mountain claims lives regularly, with even the best climbers falling victim to its fickle weather.

An 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer began his ascent of Mount Everest on Thursday, his website said, in a bid to become the oldest man to reach the roof of the world.

Source : http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/everest/