Gasherbrum (Urdu: گاشر برم) is a remote group of peaks situated at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range.[dubiousdiscuss] The peaks are located within the border region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. The massif contains three of the world's 8,000 metre peaks (if Broad Peak is included). The highly visible face of Gasherbrum IV has gained the nickname the "Shining Wall" and this has often been claimed as the meaning of the word "Gasherbrum". [1] However the name Gasherbrum comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain".[2]

Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum group as seen from the ISS
Highest point
PeakGasherbrum I
Elevation8,080 metres (26,510 ft)
Coordinates35°43′N 76°42′E / 35.717°N 76.700°E / 35.717; 76.700
Geography
Gasherbrum is located in Karakoram
Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum
Location of the Gasherbrum within the greater Karakoram region
Gasherbrum is located in Gilgit Baltistan
Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum (Gilgit Baltistan)
Gasherbrum is located in Southern Xinjiang
Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum
Gasherbrum (Southern Xinjiang)
Map
Countries
Regions
Parent rangeKarakoram
Broad Peak, 12th highest in the world
Gasherbrum II, 13th highest in the world
Gasherbrum Group with Gasherbrum IV, Gasherbrum V, and Gasherbrum VI
Satellite image of the Gasherbrum massif

Geography

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The Gasherbrum range forms the continental divide of southern Asia; drainage to the north and east flows into the Tarim Basin, drainage to the south and west flows into the Arabian Sea.

Peak metres feet Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Prominence (m)
Gasherbrum I 8,080 26,509 35°43′27″ 76°41′48″ 2,155
Broad Peak 8,047 26,400 35°48′35″ 76°34′06″ 1,701
Gasherbrum II 8,035 26,362 35°45′27″ 76°39′15″ 1,523
Gasherbrum III 7,952 26,089 35°45′34″ 76°38′31″ 355
Gasherbrum IV 7,925 26,001 35°45′39″ 76°37′00″ 725
Gasherbrum V 7,147 23,448 35°43′45″ 76°36′48″ 654
Gasherbrum VI 6,979 22,897 35°42′30″ 76°37′54″ 520
Gasherbrum VII 6,955 22,818 39°44'19" 76°36'0" 165
Gasherbrum Twins 6,912 and 6,877 22,677 and 22,562 35°34'13" 76°35'36" 162

History

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In 1856, Thomas George Montgomerie, a British Royal Engineers lieutenant and a member of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India, sighted a group of high peaks in the Karakoram from more than 200 km away. He named five of these peaks K1, K2, K3, K4 and K5, where the "K" denotes Karakoram. Today, K1 is known as Masherbrum, K3 as Gasherbrum IV, K4 as Gasherbrum II and K5 as Gasherbrum I. Only K2, the second highest mountain in the world, has retained Montgomerie's name. Broad Peak was thought to miss out on a K-number as it was hidden from Montgomerie's view by Masherbrum.

Climbing history

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Mountain altitude first ascent first winter ascent
Gasherbrum I 8068 m 1958 by Pete Schoening and A. J. Kauffman (USA) 2012 by Adam Bielecki, Janusz Gołąb [pl] (Poland)[3]
Broad Peak (if included in group) 8047 m 1957 by Marcus Schmuck, Fritz Wintersteller, Kurt Diemberger and Hermann Buhl (Austria) 2013 by Adam Bielecki, Artur Małek, Maciej Berbeka, Tomasz Kowalski [pl] (Poland)
Gasherbrum II 8035 m 1956 by Fritz Moravec, S. Larch, H. Willenpart (Austria) 2011 by Simone Moro (Italy), Denis Urubko (Kazakhstan), Cory Richards (United States)
Gasherbrum III 7952 m 1975 by Wanda Rutkiewicz, Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki [pl] (Poland) Unclimbed in winter
Gasherbrum IV 7925 m 1958 by Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri (Italy) Unclimbed in winter
Gasherbrum V 7147 m 2014 by S. Nakjong and A. Chi Young (Korea) Unclimbed in winter
Gasherbrum VI 7001 m Unclimbed, attempted 1998 by a French group (two dead) and a Danish group (Bo Belvedere Christensen, Mads Granlien and Jan Mathorne reaching 6200 m) Unclimbed in winter
Gasherbrum VII 6755 m 2019 by Cala Cimenti (Italy)[4] Unclimbed in winter
Gasherbrum Twins Unclimbed Unclimbed in winter

See also

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Sources

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  • Mount Qogori (K2) {scale 1:100,000}; edited and mapped by Mi Desheng (Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology), the Xi´an Cartographic Publishing House.
  • Dreams of Tibet: the pundits

References

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  1. ^ Benavides, Angela (26 December 2020). "Top Expeditions 1970-2020, #6: Gasherbrum IV's Shining Wall". Explorers Web. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  2. ^ Carter, H. Adams (1975). "Balti Place Names in the Karakoram". American Alpine Journal. #20 (49): 52–57. ISSN 0065-6925. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Polacy zdobyli nieosiągalny szczyt. Zaatakowali Gasherbrum I zimą". 9 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Cala Cimenti Cmenexperience on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022.[user-generated source]