places Categories: Attractions and Mountains
Gasherbrum is a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range of the Himalaya on the border of the Chinese-administered Shaksgam Valley and the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan. The massif contains three of the world’s 8,000 metre peaks. Although the word “Gasherbrum” is often claimed to mean “Shining Wall”, presumably a reference to the highly visible face of Gasherbrum IV, it comes from “rgasha” + “brum” in Balti, hence it actually means “beautiful mountain”.
Contrary to general belief Gasherbrum doesn’t mean “shining wall”. The name comes from the Balti words rgasha, which means beautiful and brum which means mountain. There are six Gasherbrum Peaks. Gasherbrum I, also known as K5 and Hidden Peak, a name given by William Martin Conway in 1892 in reference to its extreme remoteness. It is the highest peak among them. It is also the 11th highest peak in the world and is the second highest in the Karakoram Range. It is one of the four 8,000m peaks located in a tight cluster on the upper reaches of the Baltoro glacier, the main access route to the mountains which cuts through the center of the Karakoram Range. The Karakoram is the second tallest mountain range on earth. It lies about a thousand miles west of Nepal’s Himalaya mountain range. The range is bordered by Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. It is a condensed cluster of high peaks with 60 mountains over 6900 meters. Of the world’s fourteen highest mountains, four are located within the Karakoram Range: K2, Gasherbrum I and II, and Broad Peak.Gasherbrum is a remote group of high peaks in the Karakoram, located at the northeast end of the 36-mile Baltoro glacier. The group forms a semi-circle around its own South Gasherbrum Glacier. A French Expedition led by H. De Segogne made first attempt in 1936, but they could not climb beyond Camp V at a height of 6797 meters. However, in 1958 an American Expedition led by Nich Clinch made the first ascent of Gasherbrum I. Pete Schoening and Andy Kaufman were first to reach the summit.
The peak was also the venue of the world’s first 8,000 meter climb in pure Alpine Style. This means that the start of the climb is done from the bottom of the mountain and all gears are carried on the way, if any bivouacs, they will be found on the way. No route preparation is done. Supplemental oxygen is not used. Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler achieved this unprecedented feat in August, 1975. On 8 August 1975, they began their climb. They had no rope with them, no supplemental oxygen, just personal climbing gears. On August 10th they summitted the peak and thus introduced pure Alpine style climbing to the Karokaram.
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