greater himalaya

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GREATER
HIMALAYA
a
PAKISTAN 2006
PART TWO
We continue our report on Pakistan, beginning
with the final section on the Shimshal region
and then progressing more or less easterly
through the Karakoram.
Shimshal Whitehorn
Shimshal Whitehorn (6,303m) seen from Yazghil Sar (5,964m) to the east. Near the right edge of the picture is
Little Whitehorn, while the peak on the far left (c6,200m) is unnamed. (1) The route followed by a multi-national
party in 1999 - East Spur to North East Ridge. On the initial reconnaissance the rounded snow dome, which could
be referred to as Shimshal Whitehorn East (more of a shoulder than a summit and 100m or so lower than the
main top), was climbed (a), but on the final ascent the party traversed below the top on the north flank. This route
terminated in mist on what was believed to be the summit, though a slightly higher point exists 200m further
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southwest. (2) The line followed by the Germans, who continued to the highest point in 2006. LEE HARRISON
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of a local name we chose to call Shimshal
Weisshorn” (modern maps have transcribed
this to Whitehorn). After acclimatizing on
Corner Peak (c5,600m) at the end of the long
North West Ridge of the Whitehorn (which
forms the southern rim of the cwm), and a
5,200m peak on the long continuation of the
North Ridge directly above Shimshal, the pair
attempted the knife-edge North Ridge from the
cwm but were thwarted at the start by the
onset of 30 hours’ continuous snowfall. The
pair estimated the height of the peak to be
around 6,400m.
In 1986, the peak became the objective of a
British team comprising Paul Allison, Chris
Clark, John Burslem, Paul Metcalfe and Dave
Robbins, who discovered the local name of
Adver Sar. This team approached via the lower
Malangutti and established a Base Camp at a
little under 4,000m on the true left bank of the
same cwm visited by Renshaw and Venables.
The team climbed an ice face to the West Col
and from there, more easily, up the North West
Ridge to the summit, which they reached on the
16th August after a bold four-day Alpine style
ascent. Prior to this they had acclimatized by
making the first ascent of a 5,700-5,800m peak
on the North Ridge that they believe was called
Shifkitin Sar. (This had been attempted just
before their visit by an Irish team, which
climbed the North Ridge but aborted just past
the 5,300m subsidiary summit. They refer to
the glacier cwm as the Madhil and it may be
that Shifkitin Sar is one of the four summits
also referred to as the Madhil Sar peaks – see
below.) Sadly, the trip ended in tragedy.
Metcalfe developed cerebral oedema at around
5,900m and then at a point a little below
5,500m, with the view of the glacier and safety
in sight, a rappel anchor failed and both Clark
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Alexandra and Mattias Robl, together with
Markus Tannheimer, made perhaps only the
second complete ascent to the highest point of
Shimshal Whitehorn (6,303m). In November
2006 INFO we reported that the mountain was
climbed in 1999 by an international party via
the East Spur of the North East Ridge from a
Base Camp at Parigoz on the Yazghil glacier.
One member reached the summit on the 19th
July and at the time believed his ascent to be
possibly the first of this shapely snow and ice
pyramid south of Shimshal Village. This
climber actually reached the top in a white-out
and it was only subsequent to the 2006 ascent,
and photos provided by the Germans, that he
realized there was a higher point (perhaps 30m
higher) some 200m further along the ridge
towards the southwest. This higher top is the
one the German trio claims to have reached, so
making the first complete ascent of the
mountain from the east. However, prior to their
visit this team thought they were attempting a
virgin summit; a problem that stems from the
rather complex and, generally, poorly known
history of this beautiful snow pyramid.
In 1984, Dick Renshaw and Stephen
Venables, taking advantage of newly
inaugurated trekking regulations allowing visits
with minimal formalities to high points up to
6,000m in designated open areas, explored the
lower Malangutti Glacier. They chose to
concentrate their efforts on a cwm above the
east side of the glacier, at the back of which
rose a beautiful snow pyramid, “which for want
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or more Japanese climbers were killed in an
avalanche, attempting the mountain at a later
date from the Malangutti Glacier. What is
known for certain is that Japanese entered the
Madhil Glacier in 1988 after an aborted attempt
on the North Face of Distaghil Sar. They
climbed the most northerly of the four Madhil
peaks (c5,670m) and nearly reached the top of
the most westerly (c5,200m) but did not
attempt the highest of the group. The French
team that attempted the North Ridge of
Shimshal Whitehorn from the Adver glacier in
2005, descended the West Flank to the
cwm/Madhil Glacier mentioned above and
then on down through what they described
as seriously crevassed terrain to the
Malangutti Glacier.
Before their arrival in the area towards the
beginning of July 2006, the Germans, it is
rumoured, planned to attempt the mountain
from the north, following the approach used by
the French in 2005 (see November 2006 INFO).
However, a short time before their departure
for Pakistan, they got wind of the 1999 ascent
and decided to try the peak from the east. They
first acclimatized by making ascents of several
smaller peaks in the region, some of which
may have been previously unvisited. On 11th
July, from a high camp at 4,450m, Tannheimer
and Robl climbed the 5,366m East Summit of
Chu Kurrti Dast. The ascent took only a few
hours and reportedly featured ice up to 85°.
Three days later both Robls made the ascent of
the 5,700m West Summit, negotiating a short
section of vertical ice. From the 16th to 18th
the team made ascents of both East (5,730m)
and West (5,685m) Summits of Yeer Gattak
(a.k.a. Sunrise Peak); relatively easy climbing
but with a section of 70°. The West Summit has
been climbed previously.
On the 21st they established a Base Camp at
4,500m in the Yazghil valley and the following
day a higher camp below the Whitehorn at
5,200m. Starting at 1am on the 23rd both Robls
and Tannheimer climbed the steep c750m
north-facing ice wall leading to the high col on
the East Spur at a point where it starts to rise
to the junction with the North East Ridge (this
shortcuts the line taken in 1999, which started
well to the east, reaching the crest of the East
Spur via the North Flank before traversing the
rounded snow dome before the col; in 1999 the
ice wall looked far too dodgy). Despite a section
reported to be 85°, they moved unroped and
speedily, reaching the col at 5am. From there
they climbed near to the crest until c150m from
the top, at which point they traversed almost
horizontally across the left flank, well below
the crest, to reach more mixed terrain, which
they climbed directly to the summit ridge. They
reached the South West (far) Summit at
9.30am, after climbing four pitches of ice up to
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Shimshal Whitehorn (6,303m) from the true right bank of the Adver Glacier. The big North Face is unclimbed. The
left skyline is the North East Ridge, climbed in 1999 (though not to the highest point) and again in 2006. The right
skyline is the unclimbed North Ridge. In 2005, a French party climbed the first major snow/ice couloir (c800m: D)
immediately left of the rock buttresses on the right side of the picture. They then climbed the North Ridge to
c6,000m before retreating down the far side to the Madhil and then Malangutti Glaciers. The couloir was repeated in
2006 by the British pair, Harrison and Thompson. They were not able to progress up the ridge but did climb Madhil
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as 75° 16 30' E; 36° 22 06 N and an altitude of
6,555m. However, shuttle data is notoriously
unreliable for snow-covered surfaces because
of problems with radar backscatter, so the
altitude likely lies in the range 6,400m to
6,555m, contradicting the height of 6,303m
given by the Germans.
There are also unconfirmed reports that one
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and Robbins fell 200m. While Clark sustained
serious multiple injuries and had to wait many
days for an evacuation, sadly Robbins was
killed instantly. Subsequently, Metcalfe would
die while winter mountaineering in the Alps and
Burslem more recently of natural causes.
Clark has downloaded and processed space
shuttle data, which gives the summit location
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Sar (c5,700m), the rounded, snow-capped, rocky summit immediately right of the couloir exit. PETER THOMPSON
Looking up the final section of the unclimbed North Ridge of Shimshal Whitehorn (6,303m) from close to the exit
(c5,600m) of the 2005 French couloir. The right skyline is the upper North West Ridge, the route followed on the
first ascent in 1986. The left skyline is the North East Ridge, climbed on its east flank in 1999 and 2006.
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LEE HARRISON COLLECTION
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unable to progress above 5,900m due to bad
weather and serious avalanche danger. It was
Tobita's fifth serious attempt to climb the
mountain by a variety of routes, in addition to
which he has also made two other
reconnaissance expeditions.
The South Ridge was climbed in August 1971
by Andrzej Heinrich, Jan Stryczynski, Ryszard
Szafirski and the doyen of Polish climbing,
Andrej Zawada. It was the first ascent of this
difficult mountain and a Polish national altitude
record. It is also an event of great historical
significance, as it was the original, high
altitude, first ascent by the Poles and marked
the start of Polish domination of high altitude
climbing throughout the Karakoram and High
Hindu Kush right through the 1970s and much
of the 1980s. In fact, to date Kungyang Chhish
has only had two ascents, the second in July
1988 when the summit was reached during a
spell of exceptional weather by the British pair
of Keith Milne and Mark Lowe via the North
West Spur to North Ridge.
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the highest unclimbed tops in the world.
In 2003, a highly experienced three-man
Polish team comprising Janusz Golab,
Stanislaw Piecuch and Grzegorz Skorek
climbed unroped up the 2,500m South West
Face for around 1,000m, then pitched more
sustained ground (Skorek led a very thin
ice/mixed pitch at M7 with little or no
protection) to a reported height of 6,700m (but
seemingly more like 6,400m). Temperatures
were high, snow conditions were bad and after
their third bivouac the weather began to look
ominous, so they retreated.
Prior to their visit a 10-man Korean team
had attempted the mountain. The original aim
seems to have been the South Ridge but they
were not able to make any inroads on this and
eventually turned to the long South Ridge of
Khunyang Chhish Main, presumably hoping to
traverse over or around the unclimbed
Khunyang Chhish South (7,620m) to reach the
East summit. They climbed as far as the Ice
Cake (6,400m: a snowy tower on the South
Ridge of Kungyang Chhish, avoided by the
Poles in 1971) before retreating. While it is not
clear if they actually summited the Ice Cake,
thereby making the first ascent, the top was
certainly reached later in the season by the
2003 Polish team.
Anderson and House attempted to
acclimatize on Ice Cake but after two weeks
had only reached 5,900m, bad weather and
Kungyang Chhish East
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As a follow-up to their magnificent Alpine style
ascent of Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face in 2005,
Americans, Vince Anderson and Steve House,
made a spirited attempt on the virgin Kungyang
Chhish East (7,400m). This is a relatively
distinct summit rising from the back of the
Pumari Chhish Glacier and, as such, is one of
Looking up the Pumari Chhish Glacier at (A) Kungyang Chhish South (a.k.a. Tent Peak, c7,600m, unclimbed). (B)
Kungyang Chhish (7,852m, two ascents). (C) Kungyang Chhish East (7,400m, unclimbed). (D) Pumari Chhish
(7,492m, one ascent). (E) Pumari Chhish South (7,350m, unclimbed). (1) Is the line attempted by the Americans in
2006 with their bivouacs marked, CI (5,900m), C2 (6,400m), C3 (6,700m), and (H) the high point at 7,100m. (1a) Is
the line, where different to the Americans, attempted by the Poles in 2003. Their high point was the American C2
at 6,400m. (2) The South Ridge. LEE HARRISON
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70° and rock to III (the first ascensionist of this
route rated the difficulties as AD with snow and
ice to a maximum of 50°). In the heat of the day
the Germans found the descent quite
avalanche prone but were able to make it back
to Base Camp by 9 that evening.
Also attempting the Whitehorn at around the
same time, and also believing it to be still
virgin, was the British team of Ben Cheek, Lee
Harrison, Gregory Nunn and Peter Thompson.
They spent June-July in the Shimshal region
and first acclimatized with an ascent of Yazghil
Sar (5,964m), a relatively straightforward snow
peak and fine viewpoint with limited objective
danger situated east of the Yazghil Glacier.
They repeated the North West Flank to North
Ridge, which has now been climbed on a
number of occasions and is AD- (45°
maximum). Harrison and Thompson summited,
while the other pair stopped just below the
lower northern top.
All but Nunn then made unsuccessful
attempts on the Whitehorn from a 4,400m Base
Camp and subsequent higher bivouac at
4,600m on the Adver Glacier, accessed more or
less directly from Shimshal Village. They
followed the line of the 2005 French attempt up
a couloir (800m: D: 50°) well to the right of the
true North Face to gain the North Ridge from
the east (see November 2006 INFO). The
French refer to the glacier as Goz but members
of the British party have always known it as
Adver, confirmed by the Shimshali guide and
four-times 8,000m peak summiteer, Qudrat Ali.
Adver Sar is another (local) name for the
Shimshal Whitehorn, as mentioned above. A
popular trekking guidebook also refers to the
stream below the glacier as Adver.
The first attempt was thwarted after 300m by
bad weather and difficult route finding. The
second attempt reached a point 700m up the
couloir, where Cheek was hit directly on the
thigh by rockfall and injured. A difficult retreat
ensued. Five days later Harrison and
Thompson followed the left side of the couloir
and finally made a tricky traverse on poor ice to
reach the col. Exhausted, they bivouacked a
short way up the ridge above at c5,600m. The
following morning the weather was again bad
but before retreating, there was time for a
quick ascent of Madhil Sar (c5,700m: possibly
the first, though see the note above on Shifkitin
Sar), a small easy summit 100m up from and
northwest of the col.
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HISPAR MUZTAGH
Kungyang Chhish
A six-member Japanese expedition led by 60
years old Kazuo Tobita tried the unrepeated
South Ridge of Kungyang Chhish (7,852m). This
is a long ascent and after establishing Camp 1
on the 27th June at 5,600m, the climbers were
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estimated the altitude of this summit, which
lay approximately two kilometres north
northeast of Spantik, as c5,900m. Later in
the expedition all but Davison, who was ill,
climbed the c5,800m Trapezium on the far
side of the glacier via the West Couloir and
upper North Ridge.
Only three of the Spanish team went on to the
mountain: Kike de Pablo, Fernando Rubio and
Iñaki Ruiz Peribañez. They camped on the lower
East Ridge of Uyumrung Sar at 5,000m and
from there de Pablo and Ruiz climbed the peak
in a 23-hour round trip, finishing directly over
the complicated serac formations avoided by
the British. In this last section there was some
technical ice-climbing, otherwise the snowy and
sometimes corniced ridge was quite
reasonable, though never easy. The Spanish
were most likely only the second group of
climbers to visit this easily accessible glacier
basin and note that many elegant summits of
around 6,000m remain unclimbed.
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Mentioned in November 2006 INFO, Ivo Ferrari made
two first ascents from the upper Baltar Glacier in the
Batura Muztagh: (A) Pt 6,250m and (B) Dariyo Sar
(a.k.a. Biril Gai Chhok, 6350m), which lie on the crest
of the long ridge running south from unclimbed Beka
Brakai Chhok (6,940m) on the Batura watershed. (1)
South East Face (Ferrari, solo, 17th-18th August 2005,
1,000m: 70°). (2) East Face (Renzo Corona/Ivo Ferrari,
14th-15th August 2005: 1,200m: 70°). IVO FERRARI
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(4,000m) and then again at 4,800m on the lower
East Ridge of what they christened Uyumrung
Sar. A few days later they climbed the ridge,
avoiding a rotten rock step above 5,000m via a
couloir on the left and making a camp at
5,700m. The following day they continued to
what appeared to be an impenetrable serac
barrier guarding the summit. A long traverse
left was made to gain the South Ridge, up
which they climbed easily to the top. They
Haigutum East and Daltanas
In July-August, after their attempt on Shimshal
Whitehorn reported in August 2007 INFO,
British climbers, Lee Harrison and Peter
Thompson, spent two weeks operating from a
Base Camp at Hagure Shangali Cham (4,570m)
on the north side of the Hispar Glacier, close to
the junction with the Yutmaru. From there they
made the first known ascent of Haigutum East
The never-attempted c2,500m North East Face of Spantik (7,027m) from high on the East Ridge of Uyumrung Sar
(c5,900m). The top section of the Golden Pillar, first climbed by Fowler and Saunders in 1987, is visible on the
right skyline. KIKE DE PABLO
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strong winds making any higher progress
hazardous. With just 10 days of their trip left
they decided they had to make a move on their
main objective, acclimatized or not. The pair
started up the South West Face on 10th
September, following the Polish line. Finding
much colder and icier conditions than those
met by the Poles, Anderson and House were
able to climb unroped, or for several sections
move together with the rope, all the way to
their second bivouac at 6,400m. To this point
they had climbed good solid ice and névé and
at the place where Skorek had climbed his
pitch of M7, had moved a little farther left to an
eight to 10cm thick ice runnel at 60-80°. On
their third day, continuing up the ramp that
slants right through the headwall to the upper
South Ridge, they found the most difficult
climbing: a pitch of M6+ followed by another of
M6, then gradually easier ground to the ridge.
There on the crest, between 6,700m and
6,800m, they bivouacked for the third time.
The next day was clear but very cold and the
pair took six hours to climb the next 300m up
the South Ridge. This took them to the top of
the face, at which point, both very cold and
suffering from inadequate acclimatization, they
were faced with a steep step, formed by a blank
rock wall on the left and large cornice to the
right. Anderson tried hard to surmount this
difficult obstacle, but at this high point of
c7,100m, tired and battling strong cold winds,
the pair elected to retreat. The following day 10
rappels put them back at their second bivouac
site just in time to be hit by a vicious
snowstorm. They re-pitched the tent and spent
a stressful night, digging themselves out on an
hourly basis. Next morning there was a brief
clearing and in eight hours they rappelled and
down-climbed to the glacier, escaping from the
face just before the storm renewed its energy.
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RAKAPOSHI AND CHOGO LUNGMA GROUPS
Uyumrung Sar
In July, a group of Spanish climbers visited the
Garumbar Glacier, which rises south from the
start of the Hispar Glacier. At its head is the
North East Face of Spantik (7,027m), which the
Spanish had come to inspect. Unfortunately,
they found no lines on the c2,500m, sometimes
vertical, rock and ice wall, which were not
seriously threatened by hanging seracs.
Instead, they turned to one of the neighbouring
c6,000m peaks. They assumed this was still
virgin, as they had been unable to discover any
information about the valley prior to their visit
and were completely unaware of the
exploration carried out by a British expedition
in 1994. In that year Brian Davison, Bill Church,
Tony Parks and Dave Wilkinson reached the
Garumbar Glacier, camped at Uyumrung
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Daltanas (6,150m) from the south, showing (1) the
Seen from the east, Baintha Brakk II (a.k.a. Ogre II: 6,960m, left) and Baintha Brakk (a.k.a. The Ogre: 7,285m),
route of the first ascent via the South Face
separated by the 5,650m col. Marked is the South East Ridge of the Ogre, a much-attempted line, showing the
(Thompson, solo, 1988: TD) and (2) the descent via
6,850m Relph-Walsh high point in 2006. Ogre II has only been climbed once; in 1983 by Koreans who followed a
the East Ridge and South Face. PETER THOMPSON
route based on the North West Ridge – the skyline ridge above the col. JOHN WALSH
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Hispar, they made a lightweight attempt on the
unclimbed Khani Basi Sar (6,441m), getting as
far as a col at c5,600m before deciding the knife
edged South Ridge of the mountain above was
rather harder than expected. They planned to
return with more equipment but a persistent
illness to Harrison prevented any further
climbing.
Previously unreported is the first ascent of
Daltanas Peak (6,150m: this summit may also
be known as Faroling Chhish), north of the spot
known as Daltanas at the junction of the
Kungyang and Hispar Glaciers. In July 1988,
from a bivouac at c5,100m, Thompson made an
impressive solo ascent of the steep and icy
South Face at TD and then descended the
East Ridge.
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(5,783m) in the Bal Chhish range on the south
side of the main glacier. It forms one of several
peaks often referred to as the Hispar Wall. In
poor snow conditions they made an easy
traverse across the North Face to camp at
5,200m, then next day climbed the North East
Spur. With the main difficulties met high on the
mountain, the climb warranted an overall grade
of Alpine D. The Haigutum is a group of three
peaks (East, 5,783m; Central, 6031m; Main,
6,041m) that lie on the Hispar-Kero Lungma
(and Alchori) watershed immediately west of
the 5,962m Gloster Peak; the latter was
climbed from the south in 1959 by members of
an Army Mountaineering Association expedition.
Later, after a reconnaissance of the Yutmaru
and Khani Basi Glaciers to the north of the
The Hispar Wall. The North Faces of peaks in the Bal Chhish Range overlooking the upper Hispar Glacier. (A) Pt
6,102m, (B) Pt 6,243m), (C) Pt c5,700m, (D) Gloster Peak (c5,962m) and (E) Haigutum East (5,783m). Marked is
the line followed on the first ascent of Haigutum East: North Face and North East Spur (Harrison/Thompson,
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PANMAH MUZTAGH
Baintha Brakk and Choktoi Spire
In June, Americans, Jeff Relph and John
Walsh, added their names to the long list of
climbers who have made valiant attempts on
the unclimbed South East Ridge of Baintha
Brakk (a.k.a. The Ogre, 7,285m) and come up
short. Probably the most dangerous part of this
ascent is reaching the 5,650m col at the foot of
the ridge, a pronounced notch between the
Ogre and Ogre II. To minimize icefall and
avalanche risk, the pair climbed this section at
night, fixing their four climbing ropes and
making four journeys from an Advanced Base
at c5,000m on the upper Choktoi Glacier,
eventually stocking a camp on the col with 10
days’ food and fuel.
After spending three days resting and
acclimatizing, they set out on the ridge above,
climbing in Alpine style with no tent. The initial
700m rock buttress, which remains festooned
with rotting fixed rope, was climbed in a day at
sustained 5.7 with harder sections up to 5.10a.
The pair climbed it free on superb red granite
apart from a 10m bolt ladder, established on
one of the early attempts. Four rope lengths of
ice and mixed then led to a horizontal ice band,
where at 6,350 the two hacked the ice off an old
portaledge, abandoned by a German team, and
bivouacked on top of it. Next day, in unsettled
weather, they traversed several hundred
metres right to a better site. When the
following morning dawned clear, Relph and
Walsh set off for a lightweight push to the
summit. Excellent mixed climbing and some
overhanging ice led through a serac barrier to
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(c5,900m), an isolated, island-like peak rising
out of the upper glacier. Leaving just after
midnight on the 5th July, the two climbed a
prominent 600m west-facing couloir (50°) to
gain the upper South East Ridge. From there,
six pitches of excellent rock-climbing up the
crest (5.10 with a single tension move that
might go free at mid 5.11 with rock boots) led
to the exposed summit. The pair took a little
longer than expected and were down-climbing
the couloir in early afternoon when Relph was
hit by a rock that dented his helmet and broke
both sunglasses and nose. Glass in one eye
made the remaining descent difficult but the
pair arrived safely back at Base Camp having
completed the 800m Pain is Priviledge at 5.10,
A2 (one point) and 50°.
Latok I and HAR Pinnacle
prepared by the climbers’ Base Camp cook after
their return. The peak was first climbed in 1997 via
the South Face. MAXIME TURGEON
5,500m and were then pinned down by heavy
snowfall for over two days before making a
difficult and dangerous escape. On 19th
August, shortly before leaving for Skardu, the
pair climbed a short new rock route on Tony
The north side of Latok I (7,145m) above the upper Choktoi Glacier, showing (1) the proposed line up the North Face
(attempted in 2006 but abandoned after four pitches). (2) The North Ridge, often dubbed the Walker Spur of the
Karakoram. This ridge was attempted twice in 2006. (H) Is the c7,000m high point reached by the American team in
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the upper snowfields, where they began
traversing another 45-50° snow/ice band
leading back left towards the South Face.
Unfortunately, bad weather swept in at midday
and realizing that a night out in a storm would
likely prove fatal, the two retreated from a high
point of 6,850m.
The South East Ridge of the Ogre has now
been attempted on numerous occasions, often
with the use of fixed rope, and remains one of
the great prizes of the Karakoram. The best try
so far belongs to the American team of Mike
Colombo, Tom Nonis, Steve Potter, Mimi Stone
and Brinton Young, who in 1991 climbed the
700m rock buttress entirely free at around 5.9
apart from two points of aid on old bolts.
Higher up, they tried to traverse the snow band
and mixed ground leftwards to the base of the
granite tower forming the main summit, but
were stopped by a huge overhanging cleft of
rotten rock, which they felt would require timeconsuming aid. Instead, they decided to climb
up to the virgin c7,150m East Summit, hoping
that when they reached the ridge, they could
follow it to the main top. A bad storm forced
them down from c7,120m. A subsequent
notable attempt took place in 1996 when a
British team reached 6,900m. They fixed some
of the route but removed all their gear and a
significant amount left by previous expeditions.
With no time left for a second attempt, Relph
and Walsh used the next spell of good weather
to make the first ascent of Choktoi Spire
5.10). The route was named after the fine meal
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c5,700m; South, c5,700m) behind. JOHN WALSH
Pasta à la Wahab (Menard/Turgeon, 2006: 600m:
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Biacherahi Towers (North, c5,850m; Central,
Choktoi Glacier, showing the line of Corn Beef Chili
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(c5,900m) with the upper Choktoi Glacier and
The West Face of HAR Pinnacle (c5,600m) on the
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Jeff Relph near the summit of Choktoi Spire
Another superb unclimbed Karakoram prize is
the oft-tried North Ridge of Latok I (7,145m).
This was attempted independently by two
teams last summer: Damian and Willie
Benegas, making their third expedition to the
mountain, and the French-Canadians, LouisPhilippe Menard and Maxime Turgeon, who
were on their first trip to the high peaks of the
Karakoram-Himalaya. The Argentinian brothers
made two attempts on the ridge during August,
finding conditions the best they had seen, but
the weather probably the worst. On their
second attempt they reached a shoulder at
1978 – one of the finest near misses in the history of Alpinism. There has only been one ascent of Latok I: in 1979 by
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rapidly deteriorating condition due to altitude
sickness, forced a retreat. It remains one of the
finest near misses in the history of Alpinism.
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Latok II and Latok V
The strong and experienced American team of
Doug Chabot, Mark Richey and Steve Swenson
were hoping to attempt the West Face of Latok
III, so first acclimatized by making what they
believe to be the first ascent of Latok V
(6,190m). From a Base Camp on the Baintha
Lukpar Glacier, the three climbed to a col
between Latoks IV and V, then continued up the
East Face to reach the crest of the South Ridge.
After a bivouac at 6,000m, they reached the
summit of Latok V on 5th August, spent
another night at their bivouac, and descended
to Base Camp next day.
Writing in the American Alpine Journal,
Chabot has hopefully clarified the confusion
that has arisen about the exact location of
Latoks IV and V. Latok IV is 6,456m and was
first climbed in 1980 by Motomu Ohmiya and
Koji Okanu via the South West Face. This face
was climbed again in 1999 by Alex and Thomas
Huber, but they only reached the lower South
Summit. In 2001, Russians report climbing a
small summit in this area, which they refer to
as Latok VI. Ohmiya returned to make three
attempts on Latok V via the South Face, the
last, in 2003, reaching a point 70m below the
summit. Latok V lies between Latoks III and IV.
Serious rockfall down the unclimbed 2,000m
West Face of Latok III (6,949m) caused the
Americans to change their objective. The West
Face is an impressive wall, previously
attempted twice by a strong Russian team led
by Alexander Odintsov but thwarted both times
by rockfall, which on the second attempt
caused a fatal accident at the 6,200m high
point. Instead, the American trio completed an
Alpine style ascent of the South Ridge of Latok
II (7,103m), the route followed by a large Italian
expedition in 1977 to make the first ascent of
this summit (Ezio Alimonta, Toni Masé and
Renato Valentini reached the top in late August
after the expedition had fixed around 2,600m of
rope).
Starting on 19th August, by midday the three
had climbed to 5,500m, where they needed to
cross a glacier below a large threatening serac
barrier. They bivouacked and waited for cooler
conditions early next morning, when they
circumvented the seracs, returned to the ridge
and climbed to a second bivouac at 6,400m. On
the third day they climbed through several rock
bands to a bivouac at 6,700m and from there
reached the summit in a storm on the 21st.
They took two more days to descend, having
made the fourth overall ascent of the mountain
and the first in complete Alpine style. The
The untrodden summit of Pt 5,500m on the East Ridge of Latok III. Marked is the line of G-Strings and Plastic Boots
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(Menard/Turgeon, 2006: 900m: M7) on the North Flank. The climbers reached a notch in the summit ridge c150m from
the top but immediately descended the far side of the peak. The route name reflects Louis-Philippe Menard's clothing
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climbed, with a one-metre roof of loose blocks
leading to a waterfall at the lip. They were
completely soaked by the time they reached the
notch and decided to forego the summit, 150m
away, and descend the far side of the
mountain. They were back in Base Camp by
10pm, and although not claiming a complete
new route have decided to give it a name for
posterity, G-Strings and Plastic Boots (900m:
M7).
On 19th August they started up the North
Face of Latok I but bailed after four desperate
pitches of steep unconsolidated slush. Deciding
it was too warm for the face, they later made
two attempts on the North Ridge, on both
occasions sleeping at 5,300m before retreating
in heavy snowfall. Just before leaving for
Skardu, they put up a short rock route on the
ridge directly above Base Camp: Sus Galinas
(250m: 5.8).
Despite well over 20 attempts on the North
Ridge by a variety of highly talented parties, no
one has come even remotely near the high
point of c7,000m, achieved on the first ever
attempt in 1978 by Jim Donini, Michael
Kennedy, George and Jeff Lowe. These four,
arguably the strongest American Alpinists of
the time, spent 21 days on the ridge climbing
over 100 pitches. They had probably
surmounted all the difficulties, when a
combination of wind, cold and Jeff Lowe's
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Tower, which they called Releasing Bad Energy
(six pitches, 5.10a).
The French-Canadians wanted to use their
ice and mixed climbing expertise to climb the
North Face of Latok I but first acclimatized by
making the second ascent of HAR Pinnacle
(c5,600m), on the opposite side of the Choktoi
Glacier. Their 600m new route on the West
Face, named Corn Beef Chili Pasta à la Wahab,
was completed in a round trip of 12 hours from
a bivouac on the glacier and featured some
excellent hand and finger cracks with
difficulties up to 5.10. This rock tower was first
climbed in 1997 by Americans, John Bouchard
and Mark Richey, via c300m of easy mixed
climbing in gullies followed by 11 pitches of
rock up to 5.10b. The pair named the summit
after the initials of their three Base Camp staff.
After a three-day spell of poor weather,
Menard and Turgeon went for a mixed route on
the unnamed Pt 5,500m that lies on the East
Ridge of Latok III. They climbed all day up the
steep North Flank to reach a point a few pitches
below a notch in the summit ridge, at which
point things began to get nasty. First, they were
narrowly missed by a huge, flat, circular rock,
spinning like a saw blade. Next, the slope just
below the notch avalanched twice over their
heads while they were, fortunately, on steep
ground. Finally, the last difficult pitch turned
out to be by far the worst either had ever
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on the ascent; 1980s vintage bought from the Skardu Bazaar after the airline lost one of his bags. MAXIME TURGEON
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second and third ascents of Latok II took place
in 1997 when Conrad Anker, Toni Gutsch, Alex
and Thomas Huber climbed the remarkable
West Face Direct in capsule style and a few days
later Franz Fendt and Christian Schlesener
climbed the West Face Central Couloir and
North West Ridge, completing the ascent Alpine
style from a high camp in the couloir at 6,000m.
A
B
Latok III
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BALTORO MUZTAGH
ULI BIAHO and TRANGO GROUPS
The last couple of years have seen the Trango
Glacier establish itself as perhaps the world's
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The East Face of the Hainabrakk Group with (A) Hainabrakk East Tower (c5,650m), (B) Great Hainabrakk (5,766m)
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and (C) Cat’s Ears Spire (c5,550m). (1) The unfinished line of Dolzag Dihedral (Cmarik/Kopold, 2006: c750m: VI/6).
(2) Mystical Denmo (Kolárik/Rabatin, 2005: c1,000m: 34 pitches: VII+ and A2). (3) Tague it to the Top
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(Copp/Pennings, 2000: c1,000m: VI 5.11 C2). (4) For Better or for Worse (Baer/Brock/McCray/Schneider, 2000:
c1,000m: VII 5.12a WI 3). The elegant and narrow South East Pillar on Cat's Ears Spire (facing the camera), was
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climbed in 2000 by Copp and Pennings via a c1,000m route named Freebird (VI 5.11d A1), and again in 2006 by the
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Dash-De Caria route, Super Cat of the Karakoram (c1,000m: 23 pitches: VI 5.11+ R A1). DODO KOPOLD
pre-eminent Alpine rock playground. Climbing
Trango Tower has become a far more
accessible goal since the Pakistan government,
forced to realize the long-term implications of
restrictive regulations, raised the altitude
below which peaks in open areas would be free
of royalty and cumbersome liaison officer
services, to 6,500m. In 2006, many climbers
took up residence at Trango and Shipton
Base Camps.
Hainabrakk East Tower
Slovaks, Gabo Cmárik and Jozef ‘Dodo’ Kopold,
returned to the Trango Glacier, where in 2005
they had put up Assalam Alaikum on the huge
South West Face of Great Trango. This time
they arrived much earlier in the season, with
the innovative idea of creating hard ice and
mixed routes in this area noted for superlative
rock-climbs. Their first project was a new route
on Hainabrakk East Tower (c5,650m), already
home to three major rock routes on its 1,000m
East Face. After one failed attempt, they started
up a couloir towards the left side of the face on
8th June, climbing at night to avoid avalanches.
After a committing 60m rappel left into an icy
chimney, they took shelter in an ice cave and
the next day forced an exit from the couloir on
to the South East Ridge. From there they tried
to climb up the crest to the summit but were
stopped 300m below the top by a steep rock
tower that they were unable to cross. They
named their incomplete route Dolzag Dihedral
(c750m: VI/6).
Cat’s Ears Spire
Americans, Micah Dash and Eric DeCaria,
made the second ascent of Cat’s Ears Spire
(c5,550m), just north of Hainabrakk East Tower,
by a partial new route. This spectacular rock
spire was first climbed in 2000 by Americans,
Jonny Copp and Mike Pennings, via a c1,000m
route up the South East Pillar they named
Freebird (VI 5.11d A1). In unsettled weather the
pair opted for a light ascent, leaving sleeping
bags and other creature comforts behind. On
the first day they climbed around 12 pitches up
the first buttress of the South East Pillar, all
completely independent from the original route
and with maximum difficulties of 5.11+ on
serious terrain. After spending a night in a
small cave, they climbed down and along the
connecting ridge to the start of the upper
buttress, where they spent several hours trying
to find a new line. With a philosophy of using no
bolts or pitons, options were limited and they
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No doubt influenced by the inclusion of the
route in the seminal book, Himalaya AlpineStyle, Alvaro Novellon and Oscar Perez made
the third ascent of the South West Ridge of
Latok III (6,949m). This was also the third
ascent of the mountain and the first in pure
Alpine style from the 5,300m shoulder at the
foot of the ridge. The first ascent of this
summit was made in 1979 by a Japanese
expedition, which approached from the Baintha
Lukphar Glacier and made a three-week siege
of the ridge, climbing mostly on the right flank
and using 1,600m of fixed rope before reaching
the top. From the glacier the route has a
vertical interval of 2,300m, though it is the
upper c1,700m on the ridge itself that provides
all the main difficulties. The crux proved to be a
very steep rock barrier high on the mountain,
giving difficulties of UIAA VI+ and A2. In 1988
three Italians repeated the route with seven
bivouacs in a self-supported push, helped in
places by old Japanese rope.
The two Spanish first made a food and
equipment dump on the shoulder, then on the
21st July regained this point in seven hours
climbing from Base Camp. Next day they
connected runnels, couloirs and snowfields to
arrive at the foot of the steep barrier, having
made fast progress due to finding the initial
ground rather easier than expected. After an
uncomfortable bivouac, they climbed the step,
using aid in places and making several variants
because the cracks were chocked with ice. At
6,500m they were forced to stop for the night at
another poor bivouac site. Next day they left
most of their gear, climbed three difficult rock
pitches and then continued unroped up the
summit snowfield, arriving at the top only 12
days after first reaching Base Camp. They
rested one complete day at their top bivouac
and made it back to Base in a round trip of
seven days, exhausted but having removed all
their equipment from the mountain. No fixed
ropes were used, though they did use some of
the original anchors from the Japanese
expedition for rappelling.
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unknowingly found themselves on the original
route. The climbing was generally run-out and
sustained, with some wide cracks and loose
sections. On 30th July, after two and a half
days’ climbing, both men led and downclimbed the unprotected summit block. They
named their partial new route Super Cat of the
Karakoram (c1,000m: 23 pitches: VI 5.11+ R A1).
those who have repeated a route in exactly the
same style (in this case all pitches on-sight)
have the privilege of downgrading it. However,
he did concede that despite the fact they were
not crack specialists, they felt that F8a was an
overrated grade for the crux. But they found
many pitches up to F7c to be perfectly graded.
Little Shipton
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Uli Biaho Tower
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In a remarkable 54 hours, single push, round
trip from an Advanced Base Camp below the
wall, Gabo Cmárik and Dodo Kopold made the
first ascent of the North Face of the spectacular
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Looking southwest at the Uli Biaho Group from the approach to Trango Tower. (A) Uli Biaho Peaks. (B) Uli Biaho
Great Spire (5,594m) (C) Paiju (6,610m). (D) Uli Biaho Tower (6,109m). (E) Choricho (6,756m). (F) Uli Byapjun
(c4,800m). (1) Warming up Ridge (Grmovsek/Karo, 2006: 450m: 6b). (2) Three Hundred Eggs (Grmovsek/Karo,
2006: 600m: 6b+). (3) South Buttress (Giordani/Manfrini/Venzo/Walde, 1988: 1,900m: 5.11 and A3: 800m on the
rock pillar). (4) East Pillar (Forrest/Kauk/Roskelly/Schmitz, 1979: 1,900m: 5.8 and A4: 1,100m on the rock pillar).
(5) Drastissima (Cmarik/Kopold, 2006: 1,900m: VI/6). ANDREJ GRMOVSEK
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A picture of the unclimbed North Face of
Shipton Spire (5,885m) appeared in November
2006 INFO and formed the next objective for
Cmarik and Kopold. A broad ice couloir runs up
the right side of the North Face. It is seriously
threatened by seracs low down and on reaching
its head a long and difficult mixed section leads
back left to the summit. The Slovak pair
climbed 500m of dangerous terrain in midJune but retreated when Cmarik became ill
through sunstroke.
Later in the season a number of other teams
attempted routes on the South East Face of
Shipton Spire but the main achievement was
the second ascent of Women and Chalk by the
young Austrian team of Hansjörg Auer, Ambros
Sailer and Thomas Scheiber. Women and Chalk
was first climbed in 2001 by Italians, ‘Bubu’
Bole, who led every pitch on-sight, Mario
Cortese and Fabio Dandri. The Italians
terminated their ascent on the final ridge
almost 150m below the summit, where they
joined the 1997 Ogden-Synnott route, Ship of
Fools. To this point they had climbed 29
pitches, 23 of which were F6c or above and the
crux 16th pitch, the California Crack, rated F8a.
On the 19th the Austrians climbed the first
four pitches, on the 22nd pitches 5-11 and on
the 23rd pitches 12-14. At the end of pitch 14 is
the Bed and Breakfast, a small platform that
can accommodate two portaledges. The three
set up camp at this point and descended to
Base, having fixed 450m of rope. They returned
on the 26th, jumared their lines, climbed and
fixed the next four pitches and returned for a
night on the portaledges. The next day they
made a continuous 10-hour push up the
remaining ground to the summit. In total they
climbed 36 pitches for a vertical gain of
1,300m, overcoming ice up to 90°.
Unfortunately, iced or wet sections meant
they had to resort to aid on a few pitches but
they were the first team to climb the route to
the summit.
With many of Bubu’s hard free mountain
routes being downgraded by subsequent
parties, the climbing community was eagerly
awaiting the Austrian response but the team
was not to be drawn. Hansjorg, who shared the
leads with Scheiber and is perhaps best known
for astonishing Dolomite solos, noted that only
Hansjörg Auer and Thomas Scheiber made the
first ascent of the triangular wall to the right
(north) of Shipton Spire. The East Face of this
c5,400m tower, dubbed Little Shipton, looks
uninviting but is, in fact, composed of perfect
granite. The central section of the face is
overhanging, so the pair started towards the
right and after four pitches traversed right
(crux; one bolt) to climb wonderfully enjoyable
F6b crack systems on the bounding ridge. They
rappelled the 550m route using mainly slings
around flakes and blocks but also placed four
bolts. Winds of Change was climbed Alpine style
in six hours, has 14 pitches and a crux of F7a+.
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Shipton Spire
Uli Biaho Tower (6,109m). The c1,900m route,
named Drastissima, involved hard, thin, ice
climbing rated VI/6 (there were four pitches of
WI 6 and two of WI 5). To reach the bottom of
this face, the pair used the dangerous c800m
couloir originally climbed in 1979 by Bill
Forrest, Ron Kauk, John Roskelly and Kim
Schmitz, who continued straight up the vertical
1,100m East Pillar above at 5.8 and A4 to make
the first ascent of the mountain. This route
remains unrepeated but in 1988 Maurizio
Giordani, Rosanna Manfrini, Maurizio Venzo
and Kurt Walde climbed further up the couloir
and attacked the slightly shorter South
Buttress to the left. Four days were needed to
climb this 800m face at 5.11 and A3, at the time
the hardest technical route in the KarakoramHimalaya pioneered by a team that included a
woman. The following year another Italian team
attempted a new route on the East Face, while
New Zealanders, Guy Cotter, Nick Craddock,
Murray Judge and Paul Rogers repeated the
1988 South Buttress at 5.10 and A3.
At 2am on the 21st June Cmárik and Kopold
started up the couloir with no bivouac gear or
extra clothing; four hours later they were at its
head. After traversing right for around 200m
they reached the bottom of the face, which at
this point is very steep and threatened by serac
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Tower and made one of the most
impressive technical climbs in the
Karakoram during 2006.
Uli Byapjun and Uli Biaho
Great Spire
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As an acclimatization programme
for their fast ascent of Trango
Tower reported next month,
Slovenians, Andrej Grmovsek and
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Silvo Karo, made the first ascents
B
of Uli Byapjun (c4,800m) and Uli
Biaho Great Spire (5,594m). The
Great Spire lies immediately
southeast of Uli Biaho Tower, while
the previously unnamed Uli
Byapjun is a low rounded rock
summit to the southeast again. Uli
1
Byapjun came first on 17th August.
The pair climbed the North East
A
Ridge in six hours starting from the
boulder couloir to the right. The
ridge was 450m in height but gave
2
700m of climbing up to F6b and
was named, aptly, Warming up
Ridge. On the 19th they returned
across the glacier from Trango
Base Camp and climbed a big
couloir leading to a col
The top section of the North Face of Uli Biaho Tower (6,109m) showing (1) the approximate line of the Original American Route up
immediately south of Uli Biaho
the East Pillar (Forrest/Kauk/Roskelly/Schmitz, 1979: 1,900m: 5.8 and A4) and (2) Drastissima (Cmarik/Kopold, 2006: 1,900m:
Great Spire. They bivouacked near
VI/6). (A) Is the first crux: a pitch of WI 6 followed by another of WI 5, (B) is the resting ledge, (C) a pitch of WI 5 and (D) the second
the top and next day climbed the
crux: three consecutive pitches of WI 6. DODO KOPOLD
North East Face to reach the
upper South Ridge, which they
followed to the summit. The 600m route (800m
over rock. Kopold led but found it either too
fall and avalanche. Despite initial difficulties of
of climbing) was named Three Hundred Eggs
hard or too thin or too strenuous to place much
WI 5 and 6, the pair was forced to move
after a request made to their cook for more
protection.
And
as
there
was
nowhere
to
rest,
together through much of this danger area in
food. It had difficulties of F6b+.
his calves were screaming. Towards the top
the interests of safety. With Kopold in the lead,
INFO: Paul Allison/Hansjörg Auer/Kike de
they slanted left to reach the summit ridge and
they continued until a little after 6pm, when
Pablo/Desnivel/Andrej Grmovsek/Lee
then up this to the highest point, a big dollop of
tired and dehydrated they started to look for
Harrison/Steve House/Dodo Kopold/Tamotsu
wind-blown
snow
that
they
could
only
somewhere to rest. However, there was no
Nakamura and the Japanese Alpine News/Jeff
surmount one at a time. It was 3pm on the
ledge, just sustained steep ice. Finally, they
Relph/Steve Swenson/Peter Thompson/Maxime
22nd and a long, hard rappel descent remained
scraped out a perch, cooked and took a short
Turgeon/John Walsh and the reference sources
before they were able to collapse, exhausted,
nap. But as it was cold and they kept sliding off
of the American Alpine Journal and Alpine Club
into
their
tent
at
Advanced
Base.
The
Slovak
the ledge, they didn’t stay long.
Himalayan Index.
pair had completed the fourth ascent of the
Above lay more vertical pitches, often thin ice
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