Istor-o-Nal is the third highest mountain in the
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...
, in the
Chitral District
Chitral District (; ) was a district in the Malakand Division of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from 14 August 1947 to 2018. It was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, covering an area of 14,850 km2, before spl ...
of the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
of
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. It is the
68th highest independent peak in the world. It crowns a
massif
A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
with eleven peaks of elevation more than . The peak is located a few kilometres northeast of
Tirich Mir
Terich Mir (also spelled Terichmir, Tirich Mir and Turch Mir) is the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, and the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas–Karakoram range, at above sea level. It is located in the Chitral ...
(the highest mountain in the Hindu Kush), across the Tirich Glacier. Because Istor-o-Nal is behind the higher peak of Tirich Mir from many viewpoints, it is not easily visible and therefore not well known.
The word "Istoro Nal" means horseshoe in the
chitrali language (Istor means "horse"). The origin of the name is unclear.
Istor-o-Nal was first climbed on June 8, 1955, by the
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...
Joseph E. Murphy, Jr., and
Thomas A. Mutch, led by Pakistani Major Ken Bankwala,
on a
Princeton
Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
Mountaineering Club expedition. They climbed the west ridge, starting from the south side of the peak on the Tirich Glacier. Their small, minimally financed expedition (by the standards of the time for high-altitude mountaineering) achieved what was then the second highest summit attained by Americans.
See also
*
List of highest mountains on Earth
There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. Of these, 14 are more than . The vast majority of these mountains are part of either the Himalayas or the Karakoram mountain ranges located on the edge o ...
References
;Notes
{{notelist
External links
Expedition Istoro NalTerichmir, Highest Peak in Hindukush
Mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Mountains of Pakistan
Mountains of the Hindu Kush
Seven-thousanders of the Hindu Kush