Broad Peak

Broad Peak
Faichan Kangri
ཨིྰན་ཨངརི་

Broad Peak from Concordia
Elevation 8,051 m (26,414 ft) 
Ranked 12th (4th in Pakistan)
Prominence 1,701 m (5,581 ft)
Listing Eight-thousander, Ultra
Location
Broad Peak is located in China
Broad Peak
Location on Pakistan/China border
Location Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan)/ (China)
Range Karakoram
Climbing
First ascent June 9, 1957 by an Austrian team
Easiest route snow/ice climb

Broad Peak (originally named K3), known locally as Faichan Kangri (ཨིྰན་ཨངརི་), is the 12th highest mountain on Earth. The literal translation of "Broad Peak" to Phalchan Kangri is not accepted among the Balti people.[1]

Contents

Geography

Broad Peak is part of the Gasherbrum massif on the border of Pakistan and China. It is located about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from K2. Broad Peak was originally named K3 right after the naming of K2 but on closer inspection by a later party, it was discovered that the summit was over 1½ kilometres (1 mile) long, thus "Broad Peak".[2]

Climbing history

The first ascent of Broad Peak was made on June 9, 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl of an Austrian expedition led by Marcus Schmuck. A first attempt by the team was made on May 29 where Fritz Wintersteller and Kurt Diemberger reached the forepeak (8,030m). This was also accomplished without the aid of supplemental oxygen or high altitude porters and without base camp support.[1]

On the same expedition, Marcus Schmuck and Fritz Wintersteller made a flash first ascent of Skil Brum peak (7,360m) on June 19, 1957 in pure Alpine style in 53 hours.[1]

Hermann Buhl fell to his death when he and Diemberger attempted to climb nearby Chogolisa peak (7,654m) on June 27, 1957.[1]

The summit of Broad Peak has been descended on skis.

In July 2007 an Austrian mountaineering team climbed Broad Peak for retrieving the corpse of Markus Kronthaler, who had died on the mountain one year before, from over 8,000 metres.

Simone Moro has been on two winter expeditions to Broad Peak. None of the five 8000 meter peaks in Pakistan have been climbed in the winter.

In the winter and summer of 2009 there were no summits. There was one winter expedition by a Polish-Canadian team. In the summer there was one fatality, Cristina Castagna.

Time line

See also

References

Further reading

External links