'Gasherbrum IV' is the
17th highest mountain on
Earth and the
6th highest in
Pakistan. It is one of the peaks in the
Gasherbrum massif.
The
Gasherbrums are a remote group of
peaks located at the northeastern end of the
Baltoro Glacier in the
Karakoram range of the
Himalaya. The
massif contains three of the world's
8,000 metre peaks (if one includes
Broad Peak). Gasherbrum is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall", presumably a reference to the highly visible west face of Gasherbrum IV; but in fact it comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain."
[2]
Time Line
★
1958 First ascent by
Walter Bonatti and
Carlo Mauri by the North East Ridge.
★
1985 First ascent of the 10000 ft high West face by
Robert Schauer and
Wojciech Kurtyka. However, bad weather and extreme exhaustion forced them to reach the north summit missing the true summit.
★
1986 First ascent of the North West ridge by
Greg Child,
Tim Macartney-Snape and
Tom Hargis. This is also the second ascent of Gasherbrum IV itself.
★
1997 Second ascent of the West Face by a Korean team (using a different line).
References
1. This region is also claimed by India.
2. H. Adams Carter, "Balti Place Names in the Karakoram", ''American Alpine Journal'' 49 (1975), p. 53.