A Spiritual Approach to the Seven Summits with Wasfia Nazreen

Wild Ideas Worth Living

REI Co-op

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4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wasfia Nazreen is a Bangladeshi mountaineer and human rights advocate known for blending adventure with activism. She is the first Bangladeshi to climb the Seven Summits and the only Bengali to summit K2, one of the world’s most dangerous peaks. Her expeditions serve as spiritual practice and a platform for women’s rights in Bangladesh, earning her National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year in 2014.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Every mountain that I've climbed in my life, I try to connect to the spirit before even approaching the mountain.
0:07.7	Because, you know, it's not a conquering feat.
0:09.8	We don't conquer any part of nature.
0:11.8	You know, it's a very surrendering, devotional, spiritual journey, or almost like a pilgrimage for me.
0:20.0	That's Wasfia Nazarene, a woman who has redefined what it means to be a mountaineer
0:25.1	and a human rights advocate.
0:27.1	She's the first Bangladeshi to climb the seven summits and the only Bengali to reach
0:31.6	the top of K2, one of the deadliest peaks on earth.
0:35.2	But what makes Wasfia extraordinary isn't the mountains she's
0:38.4	summited. It's why she climbs them. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is wild ideas worth living,
0:44.6	an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard.
0:53.6	For Waspia Nesvreen, every big mountain expedition is both a spiritual practice and a form of
0:59.5	activism.
1:00.8	In 2014, National Geographic named her Adventure of the Year while she was climbing the
1:05.8	seven summits.
1:07.3	The goal of this project was to raise awareness about women's rights and progress in her home country of Bangladesh.
1:14.2	When she isn't climbing mountains, Wasfew travels the world, inspiring others to push their limits and connect with nature.
1:26.2	Wasfia Nazarene, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living. You have truly lived a wildlife.
1:32.1	Thank you, Shelby, in R.E.I. for having me.
1:35.4	Of course. Where are you right now?
1:37.1	I'm sitting in a studio in Venice Beach, California.
1:42.5	Awesome. I want to get into Los Angeles because, you know, you grew up in such a different place.
	...

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