Top of the World
Imagine a mountain range with eighteen summits higher than 24,600 feet (7,500 meters). And four of them are above 26,000 feet (8,000 meters)! Meet the Karakorum Mountain range.
Those highest four peaks include K2 at 28,251 feet. It’s the second highest, deadliest, and technically most difficult climb on Earth. One quarter of those attempting the climb die in the attempt. The other three highest peaks are Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum II.
The Karakoram (kahr-uh-kawr-uhm) spans 311 miles beginning in Afghanistan to the west, through the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and into Indian Ladakh, finally ending in Aksai Chin in China. It’s part of a complex of ranges that includes the Pamir Mountains, Hindu Kush, and Himalayas.
The Karakorum Range identified in white from Wikipedia.
Somewhere between 28 and 50 percent of the Karakorum is covered by glaciers, making it the most glaciated place on Earth outside of the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier (47 miles long) and Biafo Glacier (39 miles long) are the second- and third-longest glaciers outside the poles. During the last ice age, the glaciers reached 430 miles in length.
Ultar Sar
This 24,239-foot mountain isn’t one of the highest peaks in the Karakoram. But what it lacks in height is more than made up for by its dramatic appearance. It rises over 17,388 feet above the Hunza River near Karimabad, in only about six miles of horizontal distance. It’s a breathtaking peak.
During the 1980s and 1990s, fifteen expeditions made attempts without summiting the mountain. At least three climbers died during those attempts.
In July 1996, a duo from the Japan Alpine Club Tokai expedition summited the mountain for the first time. Sadly, the descent required eight days due to bad weather. One of the exhausted climbers developed high altitude sickness and died at Camp I.
The Shot
On the late afternoon of November 6, our photography group was in the area near the town of Minapin looking for compositions. Using a drone seemed to be the best way to frame the view of Ultar Sar majestically rising above the river valley.
We hovered in place, hoping for the setting sun to bathe the distant snowcapped peak in warm light. Suddenly, we were rewarded with about a minute of gorgeous light.
As my drone was returning, I thought why anybody would climb a mountain like Ultar Sar. A quote by Sir Edmund Hillary, who first climbed Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, came to mind. “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus