Gasherbrum IV (Urdu: گاشر برم ۔ ۴; simplified Chinese: 加舒尔布鲁木IV峰; traditional Chinese: 加舒爾布魯木IV峰; pinyin: Jiāshūěrbùlǔmù IV Fēng), surveyed as K3, is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan, as well as the highest independent mountain under eight thousand meters in Pakistan.
| Gasherbrum IV | |
|---|---|
 Gasherbrum IV's West Face, seen from Baltoro Glacier | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 7,925 m (26,001 ft)[1] Ranked 17th |
| Prominence | 718 m (2,356 ft)[2] |
| Coordinates | 35°45′30″N 76°37′0″E / 35.75833°N 76.61667°E[2] |
| Geography | |
  Gasherbrum IV Location of Gasherbrum IV  Gasherbrum IV Gasherbrum IV (Gilgit Baltistan) | |
| Location | Gilgit-Baltistan region, Pakistan |
| Parent range | Baltoro Muztagh, Karakoram |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | August 6, 1958 by Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri |
| Easiest route | Northwest Ridge |
| Gasherbrum IV | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 加舒爾布魯木IV峰 | ||
| |||
One of the peaks in the Gasherbrum massif, its immense West Face looms over the glacial junction of Concordia. The Name "Gasherbrum" is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall", presumably a reference to this face's tendency to reflect the rays of the setting sun, but in fact it comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) and "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain."[3]
Despite its lower height relative to the surrounding eight-thousanders, Gasherbrum IV is a venerated challenge among mountaineers.[4]
Notable ascents and attempts
edit| Year | Climbers | Summited? | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Yes | First ascent on an Italian expedition led by Riccardo Cassin via the Northeast Ridge and the North Summit. Traversing the pinnacled ridge to the main summit was considered the crux of the climb.[5] | |
| 1980 | No | First attempt of ascent via the East Face was unsuccessful due to weather conditions.[6] | |
| 1985 | No | First ascent of the 2,500 m high West Face. Bad weather, depletion of food and fuel, and extreme exhaustion forced them to stop at the north summit. The climb was called the "most remarkable alpine-style ascent of the 20th century" and cited in support of Kurtyka's 2016 Piolets d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award.[5][7] | |
| 1986 | Yes | First ascent of the Northwest Ridge, involving an open bivouac on the north summit. This was the second ascent of Gasherbrum IV.[5][8] | |
| 1993 | No | Unsuccessful ascent attempt via the East Face.[9] | |
| 1995 | No | Died while attempting a solo climb of the West Face.[10] | |
| 1996 | No | Attempted to summit via the East Face. Climb was abandoned after reaching about 7,400 m due to avalanche warning.[11] | |
| 1997 | Yes | First complete ascent via the West Face by a Korean team, via the central spur. Reached the summit after a sieged ascent quoted as 5.10 A3.[5] | |
| 1999 | Yes | Second ascent of the Northwest Ridge as part of a 13-member Korean team.[5] | |
| 2008 | No | Third ascent of the Northwest Ridge by a Spanish team. Did not reach the main summit, stopped at a minor peak a short distance from the true summit.[12][13] | |
| 2012 | No | Attempting a summit of the "Shining Wall" on the West Face was abandoned mid-route due to an avalanche.[14] | |
| 2016 | Yes (North Summit) | Reached the North Summit via the Northwest Ridge on July 26th. Intended to summit via the West Face, but weather conditions and heavy snow altered their route. This was the fourth successful summit of the Northwest Ridge.[15][16] | |
| 2018 | No | Expedition to climb the Southwest Face was abandoned midway due to poor weather.[17] | |
| 2018 | No | Spanish expedition abandoned their summit attempt due to bad weather. Planned to reach the summit via the still unclimbed South Pillar.[17] | |
| 2018 | No | Aimed to replicate the first ascent by Italians Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri on the sixtieth anniversary. Ended in tragedy as Maurizio Giordano was hit by falling ice and killed on the descent.[17] | |
| 2023 | No | Expedition via a completely unknown route up the southeast ridge ended in tragedy as Golovchenko was lost in a fall.[18] | |
| 2024 | No | Attempt to recover Golovchenko's body ended tragically as a serac fell on the team. Expedition leader Sergei Nilov was reported missing and climbers Mikhail and Sergei Mironov were injured.[19] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Gasherbrum IV". SummitPost.org. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Gasherbrum IV". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ H. Adams Carter, "Balti Place Names in the Karakoram", American Alpine Journal 49 (1975), p. 53.
- ^ Kurtyka, Wojciech (1986). "The Shining Wall of Gasherbrum IV". American Alpine Journal. American Alpine Club. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Griffin, Lindsay. "Gasherbrums Update." Alpinist Newswire, Alpinist Magazine, 30 August 2008. [1]
- ^ Normand, Bruce. "Gasherbrum IV East Face Attempt." American Alpine Club, 2018. [2]
- ^ "Piolets d’Or update!" Climber Magazine. [3]
- ^ Child, Greg. "Gasherbrum IV's Northwest Ridge." American Alpine Journal, vol. 29, no. 61, 1987, pp. 17–25.
- ^ Normand, Bruce. "Gasherbrum IV East Face Attempt." American Alpine Club, 2018. [4]
- ^ "AAC Publications - Asia, Pakistan, Gasherbrum IV, West Face Solo Attempt and Tragedy." [5]
- ^ Normand, Bruce. "Gasherbrum IV East Face Attempt." American Alpine Club, 2018. [6]
- ^ Carbonell, Rafael. "Oro en el Himalaya." El País, 8 August 2008. [7]
- ^ "mounteverest.net - Interview with Juan Vallejo, member of the Spanish team." [8]
- ^ "Accident stops French attempting the 'Shining Wall' of Gasherbrum IV." The BMC, 2012. [9]
- ^ "Aleš Česen and Luka Lindič: the Broad Peak and Gasherbrum IV North Summit interview." PlanetMountain.com. [10]
- ^ Gripped. "Ales Cesen and Luka Lindic Make Fourth Ascent of Gasherbrum IV Route." 31 July 2016. [11]
- ^ a b c "Summit attempts on Gasherbrum IV abandoned." Adventure Sports - DW.COM, 2 August 2018. [12]
- ^ Bernardi, Federico. "A Climber We Lost: Dmitry Golovchenko." Climbing, 10 January 2024. [13]
- ^ Benavides, Angela. "Another Tragedy on Gasherbrum IV: Nilov Presumed Dead, Two Injured, Call for Help." Explorersweb, 18 August 2024. [14]
- ^ Jerzy Wala, The Eight-Thousand Metre Peaks of the Karakoram (orographical sketch map, revised), Kraków, Poland, 1994