Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by

Fritz Wintersteller Fritz Wintersteller (21 October 1927 – 15 September 2018) was an Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak together with Hermann Buhl, Kurt Diemberger, and Marcus Schmuck in 1957. Although never a professional climber, he cl ...

, Marcus Schmuck,

Kurt Diemberger Kurt Diemberger (born 16 March 1932) is an Austrian mountaineer and author of several books. He is the only living person who has made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres: of Broad Peak in 1957 and of Dhaulagiri in 1960. Career ...

, and

Hermann Buhl Hermann Buhl (21 September 1924 – 27 June 1957) was an Austrian mountaineer. He was innovative in applying Alpine style to Himalayan climbing. His accomplishments include the first ascents of Nanga Parbat in 1953 and Broad Peak in 1957. Ear ...

of an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n expedition.

Geography

Broad Peak is part of the

Gasherbrum Gasherbrum ( ur, ) is a remote group of peaks situated at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range. The peaks are located within the border region of Xinjiang, China and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The ...

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

in Baltistan on the border of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and China. It is located in the Karakoram mountain range about from K2. It has a summit over long and, thus, a "broad peak". The mountain has five summits: Broad Peak (8051 m), Rocky Summit (8028 m), Broad Peak Central (8011 m), Broad Peak North (7490 m), and Kharut Kangri (6942 m).

Etymology

The literal translation of "Broad Peak" to ''Falchan Kangri'' is not used among the Balti people. The English name was introduced in 1892 by the British explorer Martin Conway, in reference to the similarly named Breithorn in the Alps.

Climbing history

The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of Broad Peak was made between June 8 and 9, 1957 by

, Marcus Schmuck,

, and

of an

n 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 (8,030 m). This was also accomplished without the aid of supplemental oxygen, high altitude porters or base camp support. In July 2007 an Austrian mountaineering team climbed Broad Peak and retrieved the corpse of

Markus Kronthaler Markus Kronthaler (5 April 1967 – 8 July 2006) was an Austrian gendarme and mountaineer. Kronthaler was born in Kufstein, Tyrol. He was an officer in the alpine section of Austria's Gendarmerie, which he left in 2003 to become a professional cli ...

, who had died on the mountain one year before, from over 8,000 metres. In 2008 French mountaineer

Élisabeth Revol Élisabeth Revol (born 29 April 1979) is a French high-altitude climber. In January 2018, Revol became the first woman to have climbed Nanga Parbat in Pakistan in winter; on the descent she was rescued, while her teammate Tomasz Mackiewicz died ...

made solo ascents of Broad Peak,

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I ( ur, ; ), surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the G ...

and

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II ( ur, ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan ...

within 16 days and without the aid of supplemental oxygen. 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. In summer 2012, five members of "Koroška 8000", a Slovenian team led by Gregor Lačen, summitted the mountain without supplementary oxygen or high-altitude porters. They established a route in deep snow from Camp 4 to the summit, used by seven additional climbers from other expeditions. All summitted on July 31, 2012. On March 5, 2013

Maciej Berbeka Maciej Berbeka (17 October 1954 – 6 March 2013) was a Polish mountaineer and mountain guide. He and Tomasz Kowalski went missing on 6 March 2013 as they were descending from Broad Peak. They were declared dead two days later. Berbeka's a ...

, Adam Bielecki, Tomasz Kowalski and

Artur Małek Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). Ot ...

made the first winter ascent. Broad Peak was the twelfth Eight-thousander summited in wintertime and the tenth Eight-thousander first summitted in winter by Polish climbers. During the descent, Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski did not reach Camp 4 (at 7400 m) and were pronounced missing. On March 7, the head of the expedition

Krzysztof Wielicki Krzysztof Jerzy Wielicki (born 5 January 1950) is a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber, regarded as one of the greatest Polish climbers in history. He is the fifth man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders and the first ever to climb Mount ...

, said there are "no chances at all" of finding alive 58-year-old Maciej Berbeka and 27-year-old Tomasz Kowalski. On March 8 both climbers were declared dead and the expedition was ended. In July 2013, a group of five Iranian climbers attempted to ascend through a new route from the southwestern face. Three of them —

Aidin Bozorgi Aidin Bozorgi ( fa, آیدین بزرگی ; 1989– disappeared July 20, 2013 in Broad Peak, Pakistan) was an Iranian mountain climber. He was 13 years old when he started mountaineering. Soon, he had shown how talented he was by climbing Mount ...

, Pouya Keivan, and Mojtaba Jarahi — ascended successfully but during descent all three of them were lost and declared dead. On July 23, 2016, Frenchman Antoine Girard's paraglider flight over Broad Peak was the first time a paraglider had flown above an 8,000-metre summit. On July 14, 2019, 17-year-old

Shehroze Kashif Shehroze Kashif ( ur, شہروز کاشف; born 11 March 2002) is a Pakistani mountaineer who became the youngest climber in the world to summit K2 on 27 July 2021. He became the youngest Pakistani to summit Mount Everest on 11 May 2021. After t ...

from Pakistan became the youngest ever to summit this peak.

Timeline

*1954 First attempt by Dr. Karl Herrligkoffer of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on the SW side that failed due to a storm and extreme cold. *1957 First ascent by an Austrian expedition. *1983 First ascent by a woman, Krystyna Palmowska. *1984 First one-day ascent of an 8000-meter peak (solo) by

in 21.5 hours. *1992 On August 4, Enric Dalmau Ferré, Òscar Cadiach, Alberto Soncini and Lluís Ràfols were the first to reach the summit from the Chinese side. *1994 On July 9,

Carlos Carsolio Carlos Carsolio Larrea (born 4 October 1962 in Mexico City) is a Mexican mountain climber. Carsolio is known for being the fourth man (first non-European) and the second youngest to climb the world's 14 eight-thousander mountain peaks, all of ...

reached the summit, establishing a new solo route now known as ''Route Carsolio''. *1997 On July 7,

Anatoli Boukreev Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev (russian: Анато́лий Никола́евич Букре́ев; January 16, 1958 – December 25, 1997) was a Soviet and Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of 10 of the 14 eight-thousander peaks—those a ...

achieved a solo ascent. *2013 On March 5, first winter ascent by Polish expedition. * 2013 July,

, Pouya Keivan, and Mojtaba Jarahi of Iran ascended through a new route, named ''Route'' ''Iran''. *2014 Hunza Expedition to Broad Peak made the summit on 23 July 2014, Karim Hayat reached to main summit and Naseer Uddin turned back from Rocky summit. Karim Hayat became the first person from his village who reached 8000 m. *2019 July 14,

at the age of 17 became the youngest ever to summit this peak. He also became the youngest Pakistani to reach this altitude.

Passes

Windy Gap is a -high mountain pass at east of K2, north of Broad Peak, and south of

Skyang Kangri Skyang Kangri ( ur, ), or Staircase Peak, is a high mountain peak of the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range, range. It lies on the Pakistan–China border, about northeast of K2, the world's eight-thousanders, second-hi ...

References

External links

Broad Peak on Himalaya-Info.org (German)Broad Peak on SummitpostFirst Ascent: The official Website of the Austrian OEAV Karakoram expedition 1957 on BroadPeak.org

{{Eight-thousander Eight-thousanders of the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan Mountains of Xinjiang China–Pakistan border International mountains of Asia Broad Peak