Gasherbrum

The west side of Gasherbrum IV, VII, V, and VI (left to right ) from the Baltorogletscher

The Gasherbrum group from space. Links of Gasherbrum - boiler with the Southern Gasherbrumgletscher, which flows into the Abruzzigletscher.

The Gasherbrum group is up to 8080 meters high mountain massif in the Baltoro Muztagh inside Karakorum. With three eight -thousanders it is a destination for many mountaineers and trekking tourists. It is located in the border region between Pakistan autonomous region of Gilgit- Baltistan and China ( Shaksgam Valley ) in the disputed region of Kashmir. The controlled area of India of the Siachen glacier begins a few kilometers away. The highest mountain of the group is called with 8080 meters of Hidden Peak, Gasherbrum I also. Only little lower are Broad Peak ( 8051 m) and Gasherbrum II ( 8034 m). The most striking mountain is on the approach from the west of Gasherbrum IV ( 7932 m), the namesake of the massif.

6.1 first ascents
6.2 Other major climbs
6.3 First winter ascents
6.4 east side

Discovery history

The German explorer Adolf von Schlagintweit reached in 1856 as probably the first European to the area of the Baltoro Glacier, which allows access to the Gasherbrum group from the west. In the same year, the British surveyor TG Montgomerie mapped the peaks of the Karakoram from afar and named it K1 for the Masherbrum, K2, K3 for Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and K5 K4 for the Hidden Peak. The K stands for Karakoram. Henry Haversham Godwin - 1861 was the first Austen, who came close to the mountains and also anfertigte an overview map. Francis Younghusband crossed in 1887 the first European to the nearby Old Muztagh Pass from China.

In 1909, led Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of Abruzzi, a large expedition to the Baltoro region by. It was first recognized that it was in the mountains between Broad Peak and Hidden Peak to a continuous chain. The chain was initially referred to as Broad - Gasherbrum range, because for the Broad Peak height was incorrectly been determined from 8270 meters, making him ( until 1926 ) made it the sixth highest mountain in the world and the highest mountain of the group.

1926 explored the English Major Kenneth Mason on behalf of the Survey of India Shaksgam the valley; while not yet leading to Gasherbrum Group Glacier west of the valley have been entered, but the mountains were mapped and measured from the east, the height of Broad Peak was corrected.

Another major Italian expedition led by Aimone di Savoia -Aosta, Duke of Spoleto, 1929 was devoted to the exploration of Baltorogebietes. Unlike the expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi in 1909, which had the ascent of K2 and other high mountains to the goal, the company of his nephew was interested in geographical and geological findings that were obtained in collaboration with Professor Ardito Desio. In particular, the Upper Baltoro Glacier and the Abruzzigletscher could be explored as access to Gasherbrumkessel. Desio - 1954 finally Head of K2 Erstbesteigungsexpedition - also crossed the eastern Muztaghpass to China and explored the Shaksgam Valley. He came up to the front Urdok Glacier; thus he succeeded almost complete circumnavigation of the eight-thousanders region of the Karakoram.

The German geologist and mountaineer Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth, who had already explored the 1930 Kangchenjunga, initiated in 1934, the International Himalayan Expedition ( " IHE 1934 " ), which also had the area above the Upper Baltorogletschers goal. His team succeeded in addition to the first ascent of the south of Hidden Peak located Sia Kangri climb over the ice cliff of the Southern Gasherbrumgletschers in the Gasherbrumkessel and to Gasherbrum La, the saddle between Gasherbrum II and Hidden Peak.

Etymology

The name comes from the Gasherbrum Balti language, a Sino-Tibetan dialect, and is often translated as " Shining Wall ", in reference to, gleaming in the evening light west walls of the massif - in particular of Gasherbrum IV This translation Dyhrenfurth learned during the IHE 1934 by locals, but admitted that it was not very clear. Meanwhile, the importance of morphemes is known, the name is composed of " rgasha " ( beautiful) and " brum " (mountain ), so it means " beautiful mountain ". Often, the names of the mountains beginning with the letter G and the respective ( Roman ) are abbreviated number.

The imported by TG Montgomerie abbreviation of the mountain names are no longer in use. Only the K2 - the second highest mountain in the world and northern neighbor, the Gasherbrum group - is still known under Montgomerie's name. Later explorers often took over the mountain names of residents of the area. Due to their remoteness existed for mountains like K2, Broad Peak, Hidden Peak or no native name. The English names were coined by the British mountaineer and explorer William Martin Conway in 1892. The Hidden Peak ( to German Hidden Mountain ) got its name because it is only quite late to see the march from Upper Baltorogletscher from. For the name of Broad Peak (such as " Breitspitze / Summit " ) inspired him the shape of the mountain with its long summit ridge. Conway looked remembers the sight of the mountain to the Breithorn in the Valais Alps. Falchan (or Phalchan ) Kangri, the translation of his English name in the Balti language, is not accepted by the inhabitants. Meanwhile agent summit Broad Peak Central, bears the Chinese name Zhongyang what medium / central means also. (It was long disputed whether this 8011 m high peaks should be considered as "15 eight-thousanders ". )

In the parlance occasion (although the mountains that bear this name ) distinguished between Broad Peak and Gasherbrum the group, but geographically the Broad Peak is part of the group.

Important mountains and peaks of the Gasherbrum group

* In addition to the summit, or independent relative main peak Besides ** summit of Hidden Peak or relative independent main peak *** Extra summit of Broad Peak Besides **** summit of Gasherbrum VII

Geology

The Karakoram is a fold mountain as part of the Himalayan system and arises as a consequence of plate tectonics by the collision of India with the Eurasian plate. The process of mountain building is not yet complete, in some places the Karakorum is still growing by up to two inches per year.

The rock layering in the Karakoram is regionally very different. It consists of thin, black slate, dolomite or limestone. While the western parts of the Karakoram ( Trango group, Latok Group, Ogre ), consist of reddish-yellow granite, the entire Gasherbrum group of friable limestone is composed. Its high proportion of crystalline minerals ensures the eponymous " lights " of the west side of the mountains in the evening sun.

Geography

Access

Access to Baltorogebiet is from the southwest. The origin Skardu the Indus is approached from Islamabad, also this city of Karakorum Highway ( KKH ) is reachable by road. From there, the path leads through the canyons of the rivers Shigar and Braldu. A passable by jeeps slope exists now to the village Askole, the last settlement before the interior of Karakorum. From here, the walk follows the gorge of Braldu River, which carries the water of the Baltoro glacier to the Shigar and on to the Indus. During the march on the Baltoro Glacier off the glacier to the east increasingly determines the west wall of Gasherbrum IV the panorama. The main stream of the Baltoro begins in Concordia square, where the light coming from the north Godwin - Austen Glacier combined with the beginning of the south-southeast Upper Baltorogletscher and flows down as Baltoro Glacier to the west.

From the Hushe Valley south of Masherbrums is a crossing of the Gondogoro La, a 5620 meter high mountain pass between Gondogoro and Vigne Glacier, possible. The Vigne Glacier flows near the Concoria Square, southeast of Mitre Peak in the Upper Baltoro Glacier. This route is often chosen by trekking travelers as way back, during the march via the Baltoro Glacier.

The Chinese side of the Gasherbrum group is not accessible via Askole, but via the KKH from Pakistan or in China by plane to Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. From there it crosses Yarkant into the hinterland of the Kunlun Shan, from where the journey can be continued only as long walk with camels as a porter goes. About the 4780 -meter-high Aghil Pass you get into Shaksgam Valley on the north or east side of the mountains.

Topography of the group

The Gasherbrum group has a north- south length of about 30 kilometers and an east-west extent of about 15 kilometers. It covers an area of about 450 square kilometers. The main ridge is an often branched, " about 50 km long wall of large rocks and icebergs " with a difference in altitude 6350-8080 meters.

The Gasherbrum group is made up of three sub- mountain sticks. From north to south these are:

Broad Peak, with northern, central and main peak, in its lowest notch descends to the south up to 6350 m to Broad Saddle, from there rises the northwest ridge of Gasherbrum IV on.
The actual Gasherbrum group, which consists of Gasherbrum II, III and IV; also belong to the mountains Gasherbrum V and VI and ancillary summit, which follow on from the south ridge of Gasherbrum IV.
The Hidden Peak, which is connected on Gasherbrum Gasherbrum II with the La. Its south-east ridge extends as Urdok comb to mehrgipfligen Sia Kangri. A clear geographical demarcation between Gasherbrum I and Sia Kangri is impossible to tell, but the Gasherbrum group, which is part of the Baltoro Muztagh ends, the Abruzzi Saddle between Hidden Peak and Sia Kangri. The latter belongs to the Siachen Muztagh.

Seen from the southwest are the mountains from the GI to GVI a horseshoe-shaped ridge some intermediate peaks are not considered due to their too low saddle height and dominance as independent mountains. In the southeast, the ridge begins with the south summit of Hidden Peak ( Hidden Sud) and extends counterclockwise to the north ( Hidden Peak, the pass Gasherbrum La), North West ( G East), West ( G II, G III, G IV ) south-southwest (G VII) and again to the southeast (G V, G VI). The semicircle is open to the south-south -east. In this horseshoe, the partially flat Gasherbrum boiler, flows from the South Gasherbrum Glacier, which flows between Gasherbrum I ( Hidden or Sud) and Gasherbrum VI on an ice cliff in the Abruzzi Glacier, which in turn shortly thereafter with the Upper Baltoro glacier united.

The Urdok Glacier feeds on the east side of Sia Kangri and flows on the northeastern side of the Urdok Crest and Hidden Peaks from south to north along, is there fed by another hanging glaciers and flows into Shaksgam Valley, which by the Shaksgam - flow towards the north is drained.

On the north side of G II and III and G IV northeast of the North Gasherbrum Glacier, which flows on the east side of Broad Peak pass to the north and then head east begins. It ends shortly after the Urdok glacier into Shaksgam Valley.

East of Gasherbrum I, the Sagan - Pass ( 5800 m) and the Sagan - peak close to ( 5749 m ) and several unnamed peaks. North of the Sagan - peak runs of Sagan Glacier, which conveys the snow from the Gasherbrum La, and thus from the East Side of G I and G II for Urdok Glacier. North of it ( an extension of the G-II - Nordostgrates ) there are a number of unnamed peaks with heights of 4730-6038 meters on an elongated ridge This ridge forms the northeast boundary of the Gasherbrum group.

Between the unnamed peaks in the east and the northern Gasherbrum Glacier in the west and north, below the north face of G II and III are the Eastern Nakpo Glacier and the Nakpo peaks. These have a height of not quite 7000 meters and are partially separated by the Western Nakpo Glacier. The two Nakpo Glacier flowing from south to north to the Northern Gasherbrum Glacier. With the main ridge of Gasherbrum group are the Nakpo peaks at Wake Tower, a 7476 -meter peak on the ridge between G III and G IV, connected

Watershed and state border

The watershed between the Baltoro Glacier and Shaksgam Valley, and thus between the Indian Ocean and the Tarim Basin extends over the main ridge of the Baltoro Muztagh -. At the same time, the watershed the border between Pakistan and China, marks from the south to the north saw the border runs through the Urdok crest and the summit of Hidden Peak to the Gasherbrum La, from there on Gasherbrum East, G II and G III and the northeast ridge the G IV to the summit ridge. This increases southwards to the main summit of Gasherbrum IV, which is not so on the watershed and therefore in Pakistan alone. The border is further from the north end of the G-IV - summit crest the northwest of the mountain down to the Broad - Saddle. Here she climbs to the Broad Peak again and runs over the main, pre-, and middle summit, where he then branches off to the east and lower summit to the saddle of the Winds, where the Gasherbrum group ends. The north summit of Broad Peak is located northwest of the watershed and thus in Pakistan.

On Pakistani territory are located near the summit of Gasherbrum IV, the mountains in the south-east, GV, G VI and their side peaks. In addition, the south summit of Hidden Peak is located on the Pakistani side. China to include among others the Nakpo peaks and the peaks to the east of Sagan Glacier.

Environment

And separated only by the Godwin - Austen Glacier from Broad Peak - - To the north is the most famous neighbor of the Gasherbrum group, the one who towered over even the highest peak of the Gasherbrum group of nearly 600 meters K2.

West of Broad Peak and thus beyond the Godwin - Austen glacier provides details on the mountains Skil Brum and Muztagh Tower, which even include how the group for the Baltoro Muztagh chain. Southwestern neighbor of the Gasherbrum group of Baltoro Kangri, viewed from the Place de la Concorde from towers over the Upper Baltorogletscher and the towers seen from the Gasherbrum boiler out behind the South Gasherbrum Glacier. He is like the hip roof shaped Chogolisa that connects to the west, and the Mitre Peak on the southwest side of Baltoros to Masherbrum Mountains.

The Abruzzi Glacier arises between Hidden Peak Baltoro Kangri and the Conway Saddle. This pass is currently marks the border between the Pakistani and the Indian- controlled part of Kashmir.

The long south-east of Hidden Peak is also known as Urdok comb. Highest peak on this ridge is the Urdok I ( 7250 m) before the ridge back to the 7422 meter high Sia Kangri rises, which belongs to the Siachen Muztagh. Between Sia Kangri and Baltoro Kangri, beyond the Conway saddle springs from the Siachen Glacier, on the southwest side of the tower Saltoro Mountains.

East of the Gasherbrum group, on the orographic right side of the Shaksgam Valley, are up over 6000 meters high, red-brown to yellow- gray limestone mountains, which are called by Kurt Diem Berger as " Shaksgam Dolomites ".

Climbing history

Here outstanding ascents are listed which affect several mountains of the group at best. Detailed ascent chronicles can be found beyond the pages of the mountains.

The base camp for ascents of G I, II and III (from Pakistani side) is still on the Abruzzi Glacier at 5150 m below the ice cliff of South Gasherbrum Glacier. Only the advanced base camp then lie in the vicinity of to-climb mountains. The Broad Peak base camp is located at the Godwin - Austen Glacier. Since most of the other peaks are still unclimbed, an indication of the base camp is not possible.

First ascents

After 1954, the K2 was "conquered" by an Italian expedition, and the high peaks of the Gasherbrumgruppe remained not long terrae incognitae. The Austrian Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart reached on 7 July 1956 summit of Gasherbrum II on 9 June of the following year the Austrians Marcus Schmuck, Fritz Winter plates, Kurt Diem Berger and Hermann Buhl succeeded in the ascent of Broad Peak in the Western Alps style. Pete Schoening and Andrew Kauffman conquered by the members of a U.S. expedition on July 5, 1958, the Hidden Peak. On 6 August of the same year, the Italian Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri Gasherbrum IV climbed over the northeast ridge. As a result of the developments that led to the Second Indian - Pakistani war, the Pakistani government imprisoned from 1961 to 1974, the Karakorum Mountains. Thus, the Gasherbrum III was first climbed in 1975 by the Polish women Wanda Rutkiewicz, Alison Chadwick - Onyszkiewicz and their compatriots Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Krystof Zdzitowiecki. This was the highest first ascent by a woman, a power that can not be surpassed.

Other major climbs

In 1975, the second ascents of Gasherbrum II pass through a French expedition to Y. Seigneur (also members of the two Polish expeditions were successful ) and the Hidden Peak by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler who first climbed an eight-thousanders in pure alpine style. The summit of Broad Peak was reached for the second time two years later. In the 1980s, were the eight-thousanders the Gasherbrumgruppe regular target of expeditions, at least since the 1990s are especially Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak as a relatively easy one to climb eight thousand and are the targets of many, even commercial expeditions. The GII is, despite its remoteness to Mount Everest and Cho Oyu the most frequently climbed eight-thousanders.

Erhard Loretan and Marcel Rüedi - members of a Swiss expedition - climbed in the summer of 1983 in just 15 days, all three of the eight-thousanders Gasherbrumgruppe in alpine style, her expedition mate Jean -Claude Sonnenwyl was two days longer go.

1984 succeeded the South Tyrolean Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander the double transgression of Gasherbrum II and I in alpine style without temporary descent into a fortified camp. Jean -Christophe Lafaille succeeded in 1996, the double ascent of G II and G I single-handedly, also without intervening descent to base camp.

The Polish climbers Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojciech Kurtyka exceeded in July 1984, all three summit of Broad Peak from north to south through North, Central and the main summit.

The long held for unclimbable west wall of Gasherbrum IV climbed the Austrian Robert Schauer and the Pole Wojciech Kurtyka in July 1985 in alpine style.

First winter ascents

Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards succeeded on 2 February 2011, the first full winter ascent of Gasherbrum II In order for the Gasherbrum II is the first of the four eight-thousanders in the Karakoram and the five Pakistani eight-thousanders, which was climbed in winter.

On March 9, 2012, both Poland Adam Bielecki and Janusz Gołąb succeeded the first winter of Gasherbrum I.

As early as 1988 had Maciej Berbeka initially reported to have made the first winter ascent of Broad Peak on 6 March 1988. At the summit ridge snow drifts prevented the view. After viewing photos Beberka admitted to have just reached the 8013 meter high secondary summit.

East side

Not until recently summit attempts are being made from the hard to reach China's east side. The first ascent to the summit from the valley out Shaksgam able members of a Spanish expedition, among them Oscar Cadiach who ascended in 1992 the central summit of Broad Peak. Only 15 or 16 years later get to the north wall of Gasherbrum II, two further ascents: The Swiss climber Ueli Steck, Hans Mitterer and Cedric Hählen reached on 7 July 2006 the 7,772 meter high east summit. In 2007, the Italians under Karl Kircher, Daniele Bernasconi and Michele Compagnoni mastered for the first time the complete ascent of the north wall in the Direttissima and reached the summit on July 20. By descended on the south side, they managed the first exceedance of Gasherbrumgruppe from China to Pakistan. The north and east sides of Hidden Peak, Gasherbrum III and IV and the Broad Peak Main Summit are to unanswered addressed.

362374