As Melek Kıyı Aydın climbed the 2,918-meter Mount Ulgar, the female mountaineer finally completed her five-yearlong challenge of summiting the highest points across Türkiye's all 81 provinces.
Ascending the highest point in northeastern Türkiye's Ardahan, Aydın successfully closed the final chapter on her "81 Summits in 81 Provinces" project.
Originally from western Türkiye's Bursa, Aydın started her climbing career in her home city and the surrounding areas a decade ago.
Besides climbing, Aydın also took notes and made visual records during her climbs. She hopes to earn the nickname "Anatolian Leopard" through the project.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Aydın said she took up climbing 10 years ago and has been doing it professionally for the last five years.
"I love mountaineering. I climbed many mountains, then it seemed ordinary to summit the same mountains. So, I started the project," she said.
Aydın said that it took a lot of effort to complete climbing all 81 summits and added that she could have not done it without the support of her family.
"I received a lot of support from my husband. In fact, I took up the challenge with his suggestion. He wanted me to continue this sport and claim the title of 'Anatolian Leopard.' He supported me all the way."
"I've climbed the highest peak in every province, except a few that are off limits due to terrorism threats. In those cases, I climbed the tallest mountain that is open to climbers." she said.
Aydın said she had to take a break from the project during the CODIV-19 pandemic and but resumed once conditions returned to normal.
"I started my '81 summits in 81 provinces' project by climbing Mount Köse in the Eleşkirt district of Ağrı province and ended with Mount Ulgar in Ardahan. With this project, I wanted to set an example and challenge the younger generation to take up similar challenges," she added.
