The almost unclimbable Ultar Sar in Pakistan

It’s been a while since weresearched mountains to climb – but our attention was drawn by one of ourreaders to Ultar Sar in Hunza, Pakistan. A beast of a mountain…

This mountain is #70 in the worldranking system, #31 in Pakistan. It stands at 7,388m and is surrounded byequally majestic siblings: Rakaposhi 7,788 m (25,551 ft),  BojahagurDuanasir II (7,329 m), Ghenta Peak (7,090 m), Hunza Peak (6,270 m), DarmyaniPeak (6,090 m) and Bublimating (Ladyfinger Peak) (6,000 m).

The spectacular scenery of themountains makes Karimabad, the main town, a popular tourist attraction inPakistan and the Karakoram Highway (KKH) which connects China and Pakistanacross the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitudeof 4,730 metres, is by far the highest paved international border crossing inthe world and the highest paved international road in the world valpard.

Ultar Sar itself is thesoutheastern-most major peak of the Batura Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoramrange. It lies about 10 km northeast of the Karimabad, a town on the KarakoramHighway in the Hunza Valley, part of the Gilgit District of the Northern Areasof Pakistan.

It is considered nearlyunconquerable and the locals believe that this is because there is a curse onthe mountain and that there is some evil that does not let you climb.

             Ultar Sar rises dramatically abovethe surrounding terrain and is a visually striking peak.

That’s it there in the centre of themiddle foreground. A dramatic knife edge beckoning people on.

In the 1990′s it was claimed to bethe world’s highest unclimbed independent peak, but this was actually incorrectas Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan is higher, and remains unclimbed and off-limits.However, this did not stop a number of exhibitions, 15 in all, accepting thechallenge. This is an unusually high amount for a Karakoram peak of this sizeand difficulty, but all of them were unsuccessful and several fatalitiesresulted.

But that doesn’t stop the aura ofmystique that surrounds Ultar Sar.

The SE Pillar of Ultar Sar (7,388m).

Despite the number of attempts UltarSar was not conquered until 1996 by Akito Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka fromJapan. They climbed the peak from the southwest in alpine style, doing much ofthe climbing at night to avoid danger from falling rock and ice. They alsofixed 450m of ropes on the lower half of the ascent and used a few fixed ropesfrom previous expeditions higher up. Their ascent took 8 days and was more dueto the mountain’s technical difficulties than anything else. After theirsuccessful summit, they faced strong storms and bivouacked at 6,000m for 5nights with hardly any food or water. On return to the advanced basecamp on the16th day since leaving it Yamazaki experienced severe stomach pains whichworsened rapidly and he died before he could be evacuated by helicopter. It isthought he died of an internal disease due to the severe stress of climbing.  Matsuokadied one year later on the nearby peak Bublimotin (Lady Finger).  Yamazakiwas only 28 when he climbed Ultar, Matsuoka 24.

Bublimating or Ladyfinger Peak,

Amazingly, in the same year a secondJapanese team led by Ken Takahashi with four others; Masayuki Ando, RyushiHoshino, Wataru Saito, and Nobuo Tsutsumi successfully summited Ultar Sar fromthe south ridge.  They fixed 4000m of rope from 5200m to 7300m. This wasKen Takahashi’s third attempt on the mountain after failed attempts in 1986 and1993.

And since then….. nothing.  Ultar Sar has not been summitedsince. It remains a  difficult and dangerous mountain to climb withsignificant avalanche risk.

The majority of attempts on themountain have been made from the south and west sides with the long south ridgebeing the most popular. Attempts have also been made from the north but havelargely been futile due to the significant  danger of the route.

The SE Pillar or Hidden Pillar hasbeen attempted 3 times. The most recent time was Colin Haley and Jed Brown’sattempt in 2007 and it is Colin we have to thank for the above photograph.However, all attempts have been unsuccessful. It’s a challenging route at thebest of times. With the route proper up the SE Pillar more than 3,100 m tall,the crux appears to be the rock barrier around 7000m. However as nobody hasattempted the upper half of the route it’s impossible to know, but what isknown is that it makes the North Ridge of Latok 1 look small by comparison, andwhile not as technical it is still sustained real climbing — very little simpleslogging.

Bublimotin or Ladyfinger Peak

If you’re tempted to give it a goit’s worth knowing that the mountaineering season in this area of Pakistan runsfrom June to September with July and August being the most popular months toclimb. Outside of these months snow can be problematic at high altitude and…beware, bad weather can hit anytime of the year.