Nanga Parbat (8125 m) is the 9th highest mountain on Earth, with its Main Summit being one of the 14 eight-thousanders. Its massif lies in the Gilgit-Baltistan province (former Northern Areas of Pakistan), and forms the border between the districts of Astore to the East, and Chilas (now Diamer or Diamir) to the West. Nanga Parbat is situated at the furthermost Western end of the Himalayas in much
the same way that the Namcha Barwa (7782 m) massif is located at and forms their very Eastern end (at the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo / Brahmaputra river). The Indus river flows to the North of the massif at an altitude of about 1200 m, thus creating an impressive difference in height with a marvellous scenery, and also drawing the boundary between the Himalayas and both the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram Ranges. K2 and the other giants of the latter are situated to the NE - much closer than the rest of the Himalayan eight-thousanders in Nepal. The peak rises near the famous curve of the Indus river, close to its confluence with Gilgit river and the homonymous town, where the famous junction point of the three ranges stands. Along the river, through the steep slopes of the valley, its way curves the so called Trans-Karakoram Highway (dubbed KKH) - a very useful but evenly dangerous road from Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir to Tibet, Ladakh, Baltistan, and Central Asia, connecting such towns as Srinagar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar to Skardu, L**h, Astore, Chilas, Bungi, Gilgit, Baltit, Passu, Tashkurgan, Kashgar, Yarkand, through the 4693 m high Khunjerab Pass. The name Nanga Parbat means "The Naked Mountain", while the alternative name Diamir is translated as "The King of the Mountains". The massif has three faces, forming three main valleys, glaciers, and rivers respectively. They are named after villages that lie beneath - Rakhiot (North) face, where the mountain's first ascent was conducted through; Diamir (West or Northwest) face; and Rupal (South) face. Three ridges divide the mentioned valleys - East Ridge, connecting Nanga Parbat to Chongra Range; Ganalo Range (N-NW); and Mazeno Range to the SW. The first attempt to climb the summit, also first on any eight-thousander, was made in the distant 1895 by the leading British climber of that time Albert F. Mummery, who disappeared with his two Gurkha companions somewhere in the ice-falls of Diama glacier, trying to reach Rakhiot valley, after unsuccessful attempts from Rupal and Diamir slopes. Several disastrous expeditions followed during the 1930s, organized almost exclusively by Germans and Austrians, who all tried to reach the summit via its Rakhiot face. This route is the longest in distance from the Main Summit and also the heaviest, demanding enormous preparation, complex logistics, as well as vigour to climb. Most of them ended with many casualties and tragedies for their members, therefore it was then dubbed "The German Fateful Mountain". The first successful ascent followed the same route, and was made in 1953 by the distinguished climber Hermann Buhl from Austria, member of the German-Austrian expedition of Dr.Karl Herlighoffer. He organized it in memory of his half-brother W***y Merkl, who died from exhaustion on the slopes of Rakhiot face in 1934, together with Willo Walzenbach and Uli Wieland - all German elite climbers of the pre-WWII period. The expedition used many altitude porters in a typical style of that time. Buhl did most of the climb alone, and this, together with his shared first ascend to Broad Peak (8046 m) in Karakoram several years later, brought him an everlasting glory, becoming the first man to perform premiere ascents of two eight-thousanders. Diamir face, with its 3500 m high wall, was first climbed in 1962 by another German expedition, led again by Dr.Herlighoffer, when Tony Kinshofer, Anderl Mannhardt and Siegfried Löw reached the summit, but the latter died on the descend. This route was later called German or Classical. Rupal face, or World's highest wall - 4500 m, with an average slope bias of 57 degrees - a marvellous creation of Nature, was first ascended in 1970 by two German speaking brothers from Italian Tyrol - Reinhold and Günther Messner, members of an expedition, again lead by Dr.Herlighoffer. After successfully accomplishing the first ascent through this direct route of Rupal wall, due to underestimation of the conditions at high altitudes, they were both forced to descend via Diamir face, using Mummery's Rib, in this way performing the first traverse of Nanga Parbat. Günther became a victim of an ice avalanche during the descent (remains found in 2005), while his brother Reinhold tasted both sorrow and glory, later becoming one of the most distinguished altitude climbers of all time - conquering all 14 eight-thousanders in 1986, beginning with this ascent - all of them without the usage of supplementary Oxygen. The mountain became the scene of another famous but unsuccessful attempt - in 1939 by the Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, who remained trapped in India with the break of WWII, later escaped the POW camp Dehradun to make their way to Tibet, and eventually to Dalai Lama's court in Lhasa. Their adventures were described in a book (1952) and a movie (1997) with the same name - "Seven Years in Tibet". More recently the Base Camp area of Diamir face became the tragic scene of the infamous terrorist attack on 22.06.2013 that claimed the lives of ten climbers and a local guide. Many of the casualties during climb attempts were due to the enormous height, with all negative consequences for human organism at altitudes above 7000 m (called Death Zone). These are mainly the severe symptoms of altitude sickness - High Altitude Cerebral and Pulmonary Edema (HACE & HAPE), with its milder but still potentially life threatening symptoms (blood thickening, increased pulse and breath rate, food disorders (incl. vomiting, nausea, lack of appetite), dizziness, reduced coordination, lack of balance, decreased attention, slow decision making, insomnia, fatigue), but also hypothermia, dehydration, mucous membrane and respiratory tract dryness, malnutrition, severe frostbite, snow blindness, exposure and overall exhaustion. All these combined with the technical difficulties on all climbing routes (prone to falls) and the extreme weather conditions. The latter, in particular, are a result of the specific geographical position of the mountain and are a unique combination among the eight-thousanders - severe monsoon periods, tropical climate in the surrounding valleys, leading to drastic temperature changes during day and night, but also in altitude (-30:+30 degrees Celsius); quick dynamic change in conditions; sudden storms; hurricane winds; heavy wind gusts; rock-falls; excessive ice-falls and avalanches, combined with significant glaciation, rapid glacier movements and change in crevasse relief. All this has led to Nanga Parbat acquiring a bad reputation, and climbers assigning it the name "The Killer Mountain". Extreme weather conditions in winter are the reason why Nanga Parbat was, and only recently became the next to last of eight-thousanders (just K2 remaining) to be climbed in winter! After many efforts and consecutive years of unsuccessful attempts, it was finally achieved by the international team of Moro, Txikon and Sadpara, on 26.02.2016.
10/08/2020
42nd! 🗻
On this day, exactly 40 years ago, Reinhold Messner made his second ascent of Nanga Parbat in an unprecedented style - solo, unaided from the base to the main summit, without the usage of supplementary oxygen, on a new route, on the exposed right-hand side of the Diamir (NW) Face, which has never been repeated! On 6th August he left the Base Camp, where only the doctor and the obligatory liaison officer were accompanying him, and reached the summit in the afternoon three days later - on 9th August 1978. The day before the final attack an earthquake caused the campsite he had left not long ago to be swept away, after an enormous serac crumbled down, not only destroying his camp, but also a large section of the route beneath, thus deeming his way back - following his own steps - virtually impossible. He descended via a far more dangerous and exposed line, after suffering a day of extremely bad weather on the wall, arriving in Base Camp on 11th August. Since then the route bears his name - Messner Route, or alternatively - Diamir Face Direct Route. The line sits to the right of the Mummery Rib, which the great Albert F. Mummery chose for his early attempt in the distant 1895, negotiating series of manacing overhanging seracs, threatening to crush down in any moment.
Messner's effort was part of greater series of solo attempts on that same wall, in which he performed three separate unsuccessful expeditions for reaching the summit. These were all organized in the 70s - the years following the disaster with his younger brother Günther Messner on 27th June 1970, when they were both forced to descend the same Diamir Face, after climbing the Rupal Face Direct Route the day before (for the first time ever), and thus completing the first traverse of the mountain. Günther - exhausted - fell behind and was caught by an avalanche, disappearing into the darkness, therefore Reinhold's consequent attempts were mainly driven by desire to find his brother's remains. They were discovered much later - on 17th July 2005, at an altitude of 4600 m.
This was the first climbed eight-thousander for both. Reinhold Messner later went on to become the first climber to reach all fourteen highest mountains on the planet, sixteen years later - in 1986. Just three months before this solo success on Nanga Parbat in 1978, on 8th May he successfully climbed Everest without the usage of supplementary oxygen - for the first time ever. His partner in that feat of heroism was Peter Habeler, both as members of an Austrian expedition, following the classic Western Cwm Route. A feat he repeated two years later - on 20th August 1980 - this time solo, unaided, even opening a new route on the North Face via the Great (Norton) Couloir, in three days, in the middle of the monsoon season! It was described in his book "The Crystal Horizon: Everest – the first solo ascent" (1989).
09/04/2020
Speechless!
Descent of Main Summit by Stefi Troguet. 🗻
And a powerful message to us all!
05/02/2019
Aerial view of Rakhiot Peak (7070, left), East Peak or Silver Fang (7597, center), and Northeast Peak (7535, right) with Silver Plateau behind them, all seen from the North.
05/02/2019
Magnificent aerial view of the Main Summit from the North.
10/08/2018
On this day, exactly 40 years ago, Reinhold Messner made his second ascent of Nanga Parbat in an unprecedented style - solo, unaided from the base to the main summit, without the usage of supplementary oxygen, on a new route, on the exposed right-hand side of the Diamir (NW) Face, which has never been repeated! On 6th August he left the Base Camp, where only the doctor and the obligatory liaison officer were accompanying him, and reached the summit in the afternoon three days later - on 9th August 1978. The day before the final attack an earthquake caused the campsite he had left not long ago to be swept away, after an enormous serac crumbled down, not only destroying his camp, but also a large section of the route beneath, thus deeming his way back - following his own steps - virtually impossible. He descended via a far more dangerous and exposed line, after suffering a day of extremely bad weather on the wall, arriving in Base Camp on 11th August. Since then the route bears his name - Messner Route, or alternatively - Diamir Face Direct Route. The line sits to the right of the Mummery Rib, which the great Albert F. Mummery chose for his early attempt in the distant 1895, negotiating series of manacing overhanging seracs, threatening to crush down in any moment.
Messner's effort was part of greater series of solo attempts on that same wall, in which he performed three separate unsuccessful expeditions for reaching the summit. These were all organized in the 70s - the years following the disaster with his younger brother Günther Messner on 27th June 1970, when they were both forced to descend the same Diamir Face, after climbing the Rupal Face Direct Route the day before (for the first time ever), and thus completing the first traverse of the mountain. Günther - exhausted - fell behind and was caught by an avalanche, disappearing into the darkness, therefore Reinhold's consequent attempts were mainly driven by desire to find his brother's remains. They were discovered much later - on 17th July 2005, at an altitude of 4600 m.
This was the first climbed eight-thousander for both. Reinhold Messner later went on to become the first climber to reach all fourteen highest mountains on the planet, sixteen years later - in 1986. Just three months before this solo success on Nanga Parbat in 1978, on 8th May he successfully climbed Everest without the usage of supplementary oxygen - for the first time ever. His partner in that feat of heroism was Peter Habeler, both as members of an Austrian expedition, following the classic Western Cwm Route. A feat he repeated two years later - on 20th August 1980 - this time solo, unaided, even opening a new route on the North Face via the Great (Norton) Couloir, in three days, in the middle of the monsoon season! It was described in his book "The Crystal Horizon: Everest – the first solo ascent" (1989).
03/07/2018
Today we mark the 65th anniversary of this gigantic achievement - the premiere ascent of Nanga Parbat via the Rakhiot flank by Hermann Buhl, solo and without the usage of supplementary oxygen! It was the third eight-thousander to be climbed - three years after Annapurna and just 35 days after Everest. This tremendous feat has subsequently inspired generations of high altitude climbers all over the world to reach for the fourteen highest peaks on the planet!
Rakhiot Face, German-Austrian W***y-Merkl Memorial Expedition, K.M.Herrligkoffer, First Ascent
Simone Moro about the already famous pitons at the summit, through the years (2001-2016).
01/12/2013
That would be Simone Moro's third attempt on Nanga Parbat. First he tried a new route on Diamir face in 2003, when Jean-Cristophe Lafaille succeeded in completing the task (Kinshofer, variant 5), as part of the Kazakh International expedition. Then he ventured on a winter attempt in 2012 together with Denis Urubko, again trying to open a new route - the Messner-Eisendle-Thomaseth one from 2000, when maximum altitude of 7500 m was reached back then. Extreme weather conditions and high avalanche risk last year stopped them at 6600 m as well.
10/08/2020
05/02/2019
05/02/2019
10/08/2018
03/07/2018
13/04/2016
![The North Face: Nanga Parbat Winter Expedition 2013 [TEASER]](https://img3.globgov.com/002/045/3335853200020450.jpg)
01/12/2013