Khunyang Chhish

Khunyang Chhish
Khunyang Chhish (centre left) and Hispar glacier (below) - NASA ISS image
Highest point
Elevation	Ranked 21st
Prominence
Listing	Ultra
Coordinates
Geography
Khunyang Chhish Pakistan
Location	Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Parent range	Hispar Muztagh, Karakoram
Climbing
First ascent	August 26, 1971 by Andrzej Heinrich, Jan Stryczynski, Ryszard Szafirski, Andrzej Zawada
Easiest route	glacier/rock/ice climb

Khunyang Chhish or Kunyang Chhish is the second-highest mountain in the Hispar Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. Alternate variations of the name include Kunyang Kish and Khiangyang Kish, among others. Its height is also sometimes given as 7823m. It is ranked 21st in the world and 8th in Pakistan.

Location

Khunyang Chhish lies in the heart of the Hispar Muztagh, north of the Hispar Glacier, one of the major glaciers of the Karakoram. It rises on the southwest side of the Khunyang Glacier while Distaghil Sar (the highest peak of the Hispar Muztagh) dominates the glacier on its northern end.

Notable features

Khunyang Chhish is the twenty-first highest independent mountain in the world. It is also notable for its rise above local terrain: for example, it rises almost 4,000 metres (2.5 mi) above its southern base camp on the Khunyang Glacier, and it rises 5,500 metres (3.4 mi) above the Hunza valley in about 33 kilometres (21 mi). It is a steep, pointed, and complex peak; it easily rivals the slightly higher Distaghil Sar to the North, which has a more rounded profile.

Not counting the two Pumari Chhish summits 4 km to the ENE, the Kunyang Chhish massive has five peaks:

• Kunyang Chhish Main, 7852 m
• Kunyang Chhish South, 7620 m, 700 m SSW, with a prominence of only about 100 m
• Kunyang Chhish East 7400 m, 2 km ESE, 240 m prominence.
• Kunyang Chhish West, 7350 m, 1.5 km W, 170 m prominence. Also known as Pyramid Peak.
• Kunyang Chhish North, 7108 m, 6 km NNE, 517 m prominence.

Climbing history

The first climbing attempt on Khunyang Chhish was made in 1962 but the climb was aborted after an avalanche on 18 July killed two climbers, Major James Mills and Captain M. R. F. Jones. Their bodies were never recovered.

The next attempt was in 1965 but another climber died after the collapse of a narrow ridge at 7,200 m (23,600 ft).

The first ascent was accomplished by a Polish team led by Andrzej Zawada in 1971. They climbed a long route up the South Ridge of the peak from the Pumari Chhish Glacier. However, one of their members was killed in a crevasse accident.

The second, and only other recorded ascent, climbed the Northwest Spur to the North Ridge. Two British climbers, Mark Lowe and Keith Milne, completed this route on July 11, 1988. The route had first been attempted in 1980, and had been attempted again in 1981, 1982, and 1987.

The Himalayan Index lists three recent attempts on this peak, in 2000 and 2003.

After four failed expeditions, starting in 2003, the East summit was first ascended in July 2013 by an Austrian/Swiss team over the South Wall.

See also

• List of mountains in Pakistan
• Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
• Highest mountains of the World
• List of Ultras of the Western Himalayas

References

• Jill Neate, High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks, ISBN 0-89886-238-8
• Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram by Jerzy Wala, 1990. Published by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research.
• Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine-Style, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
• American Alpine Journal
• Himalayan Index
• DEM files for the Himalaya (Corrected versions of SRTM data)
• Khunyang Chhish on Peakware
• A list of world peaks ranked by local relief and steepness which includes Khunyang Chhish

External links

• Northern Pakistan - highly detailed placemarks of towns, villages, peaks, glaciers, rivers and minor tributaries in Google Earth