'Gasherbrum I' (also known as 'Hidden Peak' or 'K5') is the
11th highest peak on
Earth, located on the border of China-Pakistan, and the
3rd highest in
Pakistan.
[ This region is disputed, and is claimed by India to be an integral part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir ] Gasherbrum I is part of the
Gasherbrum massif, located in the
Karakoram region of the
Himalaya. Gasherbrum is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall", presumably a reference to the highly visible face of the neighboring peak
Gasherbrum IV; but in fact it comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain."
Gasherbrum I was designated K5 (meaning the 5th peak of the
Karakoram) by T.G. Montgomery in
1856 when he first spotted the peaks of the Karakoram from more than 200 km away during the
Great Trigonometric Survey of India. In
1892,
William Martin Conway provided the alternate name, Hidden Peak, in reference to its extreme remoteness.
Gasherbrum I was first climbed on
July 5 1958 by
Pete Schoening and Andy Kauffman of an eight-man
American expedition led by Nicholas B. Clinch. Richard K. Irvin, Tom Nevison, Tom McCormack, Bob Swift and Gil Roberts were also members of the team.
Timeline
★
1934 - A large international expedition, organized by the Swiss
G.O. Dyhrenfurth, explores Gasherbrum I and II. Two climbers get to 6,300 m/20,650 ft.
★
1936 - A
French expedition gets to 6,900 m/22,630 ft.
★
1958 - An American team makes the first ascent.
★
1975 -
Reinhold Messner and
Peter Habeler reach the summit on a new route (northwest route). One day later, they are followed by three Austrians on the same route.
★
1977 - The fourth successful ascent by two Yugoslavians, again on a new route.
★
1980 - A French expedition is successful with the 5th ascent and pass the south ridge for the first time.
★
1981 - Japanese have the 6th successful ascent.
★
1982 - G. Sturm, M. Dacher and S. Hupfauer of a German expedition summit via a new route on the north face. In the same year, the first woman gets to the summit. Moreover, there is the first ski descent from the top of an 8000 metre peak.
★
1983 - Teams from
Switzerland,
Poland and
Spain are successful.
★
1984 -
Reinhold Messner and
Hans Kammerlander traverse Gasherbrum I and
Gasherbrum II without returning to base camp in between
★
1985 - Solo ascent by
Benoît Chamoux.
★
2003 - 19 people reach the summit, 4 deaths.
See also
★
List of Mountains in Pakistan
★
Highest Mountains of the World
Sources
★ H. Adams Carter, "Balti Place Names in the Karakoram", ''American Alpine Journal'' 49 (1975), p. 53.
References
External link
★
Gasherbrum I on Peakware