Nanga Parbat: the ninth highest mountain on the planet

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Our planet has 14 peaks that exceed eight thousand meters above sea level, one of these is Nanga Parbat. This spectacular Himalayan mountain at 8,126 meters is the ninth highest peak on the planet. Nanga Parbat is located southeast of the Indus River in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, i.e. Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

The mountain is famous among climbers and is judged to be one of the most difficult and dangerous to climb. This mountain, known locally as Diamer, is the westernmost major peak of the Himalayas.

Nanga Parbat is made up of a long ridge with three main faces called Diamir, Rakhiot and Rupal. The mountain can be admired in all its magnificence from Fairy Meadows, Rupal village and, partly, from Rama Lake and Rama Meadows.

Nanga Parbat was climbed for the first time on 3 July 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl. Over the years the mountain has claimed numerous victims among those who have attempted to climb it. For this reason the mountain has also been called the “killer mountain”.

There are three main climbing routes: the most popular is the Kinshofer route on the Diamir side, then there is the Messner 1970 route on the Rupal side and finally the route opened by the first expedition that reached the summit of the mountain, which climbs along the Rakhiot.

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