Shispare ( ur, ) is one of the high mountain peaks of the

Batura Muztagh __NOTOC__ The Batura Muztagh () mountains are a sub-range of the Karakoram mountain range. They are located in between central hunza and upper hunza(Gojal valley) in the Hunza district of the Gilgit-Baltistan province in northern Pakistan. They ...

, the westernmost subrange of the Karakoram

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

in the Gilgit-Baltistan region 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 ...

. Alternate forms of the name of this peak include Shispare Sar and Shisparé Sari. __NOTOC__

Location

Shispare lies east of the

Batura __NOTOC__ The Batura Muztagh () mountains are a sub-range of the Karakoram mountain range. They are located in between central hunza and upper hunza( Gojal valley) in the Hunza district of the Gilgit-Baltistan province in northern Pakistan. They a ...

Wall, which is the highest part of the

. The

Hunza River Hunza River ( ur, ) is the principal river of Hunza in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan It is formed by the confluence of the Chapursan and Khunjerab ''nalas'' (gorges) which are fed by glaciers. It is joined by the Gilgit River and the Naltar ...

curves around the southwest, west, and northwest sides of the Batura Muztagh, and Shispare towers above the western bank of the river. In turn, the

Hunza Valley The Hunza Valley ( bsk, , Wakhi: '; ur, ) is a mountainous valley in the northern part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, formed by the Hunza River, bordering Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, Afghanistan's Wa ...

lies in the

Hunza District The Hunza District ( ur, ) is one of the 14 districts of the Pakistani province of Gilgit-Baltistan. It was established in 2015 by the division of the Hunza–Nagar District in accordance with a government decision to establish more administrativ ...

of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

Notable features

Shispare is notable for its tremendous rise above local terrain. For example, the nearby town of Karimabad, in the Hunza Valley, has an elevation of , making for of relief, in only 13 km (8 mi) horizontal distance. Being near the end of the Batura Muztagh, it commands large drops in three directions (north, east, and south). In addition, Shispare has a strikingly large and steep Northeast Face.

History

Climbing began in the Batura Muztagh later than in other parts of the Karakoram. Shispare was the first major peak in the range to be successfully climbed, in 1974, by the "Polish-German Academic Expedition" under the leadership of Janusz Kurczab. The ascent took 35 days, and during preparations for a second group to try for the summit, one member of the expedition (Heinz Borchers) was killed in an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

. The first ascent route followed the Pasu

Glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

to the East Ridge, between the Pasu and Ghulkin Glacier. (Note: this ridge goes southeast from the summit, turns northeast, and then turns roughly east, so it is called the "southeast ridge" and the "northeast ridge" in different sources.) Difficulties included a long ice ridge, and the access to the ridge required 1500m of fixed rope. The next attempt was in 1989 by members of the Ryukoku University Alpine Club in Japan, led by Masato Okamoto. The group was on the mountain for almost two months, but was not able to summit; their high point was around . In 1994, a group from the Komono Alpine Club in Japan, led by Yukiteru Masui, achieved the second ascent of the peak. They reached Base Camp on June 18, and Masui, Kokubu, and Ozawa reached the summit on July 20. They followed the same route as the first ascent party and climbed in a similar style, with a similar amount of fixed rope. Th
Himalayan Index
lists no other ascents or attempts of this peak.

Climbing

The first (and second) ascent route is described above. It is likely that any other ascent route would involve (at least) similar difficulties, making this a highly challenging peak.

Books, pamphlets, and maps about Shispare

* ''High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks'' by Jill Neate, * ''Batura Mustagh'' (sketch map and pamphlet) by Jerzy Wala, 1988. * ''Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram'' by Jerzy Wala, 1990. Published by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research.

Other references

* ''

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's M ...

'', 1975, pp. 215–216 * ''

'', 1990, pp. 294–295 * ''

'', 1995, pp. 295–296

External links

Himalayan Index

A clickable map of the Batura Muztagh

(Corrected versions of SRTM data; Shispare is in the "Batura Sar" tile)
Aerial Photos of Shispare by Brian McMorrow
{{Pakistan-geo-stub Seven-thousanders of the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan