Fascinating Pakistan - Rakaposhi

Today, while sifting through my old photographs, I came across this photo of mine posing with my wife and sons standing at the Rakaposhi Point on the Gilgit-Hunza section of the Karakorum Highway (KKH) with the mighty Rakaposhi mountain in the background. While driving to Hunza, we came across this point and were instantly frozen on the spot for it gave a full view of the Rakaposhi mountain rising from the ground level to its utmost height and glory. We stayed at the place and ordered for breakfast from a small self made eatery on the point. I still remember devouring the hot parathas (heavily greased rounded bread typical to Pakistani cuisines) and fried eggs, followed by hot fuming doodh patti (doodh=milk, patti=tea leaves, a tea made from milk and tea leaves with no water and a heavy dose of sugar).

Rakaposhi is a massive mountain, rising at a height of 7,788 m above sea level in the Karakorum mountain range. Rakaposhi, meaning the snow covered in local language, is situated in the middle of Nagar Valley Nagar District and Danyore and Bagrote valley approximately 100 km north of the capital city Gilgit of the semi autonomous Gilgit-Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan.

Although, i is ranked 27th highest in the world and 12th highest in Pakistan, it is its beauty that makes it as one of the popular sites for mountaineers around the world. Rakaposhi is also the only mountain in the world which rises straight from beautifully cultivated fields to the height of 25,550 feet. The first successful recorded ascent by non-natives was in 1958 by Mike Banks and Tom Patey, members of a British-Pakistani expedition, via the Southwest Spur route.

A spectacular view of Rakaposhi  from Gulmit - Photo: Northern Areas of Pakistan

Now watch a spectacular video of skirting around the Rakaposhi via para gliding while flying at a maximum height of 6,070 m - I am sure you would feel the coldness and awe these two para gliders, piloted by with Brad Sander (one of the best para gliding pilots), were experiencing when the flew past Rakaposhi ( a little more than half of the video):

Rakaposhi is famous for its exceptional rise and it rises 5,900 m in just a little over eleven kilometers from the Hunza River. The areas around Rakaposhi are home to some of the endangered species like the Marco Polo sheep, snow lapboard, brown bear and wolves.

References: Wikipedia 

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Fascinating Pakistan - Gasherbrum 1, The Hidden Peak

I have already introduced of the five eight thousander peaks in Pakistan out of the fourteen in the world and also wrote an exclusive post on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas, the only eight thousander located out of the Karakorum range. Today I will talk about Gasherbrum 1, also known as the hidden peak.

But before I do that, let me say a a few words about the survey of the Karakorum peaks by T.G. Montgomerie who back in 1856 with no GPS or visual devices surveyed the Karakorum peaks - sitting more than two hundred kilometers away, a feat of extreme professionalism while carrying out the Trigonometric Survey of India. And he named Gasherbrum 1 as K5, as he labelled the Chogori or the Mt Godwin Austen as K2. Later in 1982, William Martin Conway labelled it as the Hidden Peak, for being located in the extreme remoteness.

Part of the Gasherbrum massif in the Karakorum region of the Himalaya, with a height of 8,080 m (26,510 ft), Gasherbrum 1 is the 11th eight thousander and the third eight thousander in Pakistan. It is located on the Pakistani–Chinese border in Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Xinjiang region of China. In local Balti language, the world Gasherbrum means the beautiful mountain, "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain)

The Gasherbrum 1 expedition commences from Skardu. From here the expeditions enter the Shigar Valley and a  laborious trekking across the Baltoro glacier to reach the base camp. The best climbing season starts in June and ends in August.

Gasherbrum I and II were explored by an international expedition by the Swiss G.O. Dyhrenfurth, explores . Two climbers could go up to 6,300 m (20,670 ft). 1936 a French expedition tried an unsuccessful attempt, but it was on July 5, 1958 Pete Schoening and Andy Kauffman, part of an eight-man American expedition who successfully scaled the summit.

On March 9th, 2012, two Polish climbers (Adam Bielecki, 28 and Janusz Golab, 43) completed the first ever winter ascent of Gasherbrum I. Adam Bielecki and Janusz Golab climbed the peak without oxygen. The Polish team ascended via the Japanese route up the NW Face of Gasherbrum 1. The expedition succeeded after 49 days of waiting due extremely bad weather.

The Polish Expedition Plan - Photo: Himalman Weblog

The same day, three climbers from a different expedition, Austrian Gerfried Goschl, Swiss Cedric Hahlen and Pakistani Nisar Hussain Sadpara, went missing, never to be found again. The three had been sighted for the last time midday on Friday circa 250 m below the summit .They were trying to ascend via a new route.. 

Watch the video of the first ever winter accent of Gasherbrum 1 by the Polish climbers (2012)

This is the second share of the five eight thousanders in Pakistan, after Nanga Parbat. I will write about the remaining three eight thousanders in my subsequent posts.

Photo: Northern Areas of Pakistan |
References: Wikipedia | Panel Mountain

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Fascinating Pakistan - The Eight Thousanders

Pakistan is one of those blessed countries which has enormous tourist attractions right from its 1200 long coast, mostly virgin, along the Arabian Sea, vast stretches of deserts, fertile lush green plains and snow clad mountain peaks dominating its north.

While the entire country is worth visiting and touring, it is a mountaineers haven as its has 108 peaks over 7,000 metres and as many over 6,000 metres, while there is no count for peaks over 5,000 and 4,000 meters. Most of the highest peaks in Pakistan lie in Karakoram Range (which lies almost entirely in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, and is considered to be a part of the greater Himalayan range) but some peaks above 7,000 m are included in the Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges.

In fact Pakistan is the meeting point of three great mountain ranges, the Himalaya, the Karakorum and the Hindu Kush. And it is here in these mountain ranges lie five out of the fourteen eight thousanders (peaks over 8,000 meters) in the world. Of these five, four lie the Karakorum in the surroundings of Concordia; the confluence of Baltoro Glacier and Godwin Austen Glacier, while one is located in the Himalaya.

Herein under is the list of all the five eight thousanders located in Pakistan.

• K-2 also known as the Chogori, Mt. Godwin Austen that reaches up to a height of 8,611 m and is the second highest peak of the world after the Mt Everest.
• The Nanga Parbat (meaning the Naked Mountain) is 8,126 m high and is one of the deadliest of the eight-thousanders. This Himalayan peak ranks 5th in the 14 eight thousanders of the world. The summit is shaped like a reclining women, as remarked by some imaginative mountain and beauty lover. If flying to Skardu, one can see the Nanga from the right window of the aircraft. One can feel the grandeur of the height when flying almost to the level of its peak. Due to its difficulty in climbing, many mountaineers have lost their lives, that is why it is also known as the Killer Mountain.
• Gasherbrum I (also known as Hidden Peak or K5) is the 11th highest peak on Earth, located on the Pakistan-China border in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the Gasherbrum massif, located in the Karakorum region of the Himalaya.
• Part of the Gasherbrum massif, the Broad Peak in the Karakorum Range is 8,051 m high and is the 12th of the eight-thousanders in the world. Broad Peak is known locally as Faichan Kangri and was originally referred to as K3. The summit is over 1.5 km long, from which it gets in name as the Broad Peak.
• Gasherbrum II (also known as K4) is the 13th highest mountain on Earth, located in the Gilgit Baltistan province, Pakistan near the border to China at a height of 8,035 m (26,362 ft). Gasherbrum II is the third highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, located in the Karakorum Range of the Himalaya.

I have already written about Nanga Parbat in one of my earlier posts on Fascinating Pakistan series. And would write about other four in my next posts.
Photo Credits: K2 Mobeen Mazhar  | Karakorum Peaks: Abbas Shah

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