Azerbaijani climbers on way to conquer Nanga Parbat

From June 3, Azerbaijan National team of climbers has left for Pakistan to climb Nanga Parbat, which is the ninth highest mountain in the world and the western anchor of the Himalayas.
Located in Baltistan, the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region administered by Pakistan, Nanga Parbat is one of the eight-thousands, with a summit elevation of 8,126 metres (26,660 ft). An immense, dramatic peak rising far above its surrounding terrain, Nanga Parbat is also a notoriously difficult climb. Numerous mountaineering deaths in the mid and early 20th century lent it the nickname "killer mountain".

The expedition of the Azerbaijan team which includes climbers with Himalayan experience, including Israfil Ashurli, Ismail Askerov, Rufat Gojayev, will be devoted to the 90th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

Azerbaijani alpinists will climb NP via Kinshofer route on the Diamir wall. Diamir wall height of several thousand meters towers over the whole district, hiding its hanging glaciers and rocks.
Before, Azerbaijani climbers have conquered Mount Everest for the sixth time in the history as part of various international expeditions.

Nanga Parbat`s, whose name means Naked Mountain, vast snowy face is a powerful spectacle when seen from the arid Indus Valley, approaching the mountain from the west. Here the mountain towers in isolation over 22,000 feet from the valley floor. The mountain is easy to reach (China`s Karakoram Highway approaches the base of the mountain from the north), but is not so easy to climb. Unstable glaciers and frequent storms and avalanches have proved hazardous, most notably to the German party who first attempted the peak. Herman Buhl successfully reached the summit, but this was only after having lost eleven climbers and fifteen porters during the ascent. Many other climbers have subsequently been killed on this mountain.


/AzerTAc/