Before our expedition, K6 Central (7,155m) was the 19th highest unclimbed peak in the World with a prominence of at least 100m.
Of the other 18 taller unclimbed peaks, 2 are legitimate mountains, 6 are relatively independent Main-Peaks, and 10 are major subsidiaries. K6 Central falls under the later: a major subsidiary of a mountain.
For me, route overlays tell a much more complete story than text or spoken word. I’ve always loved putting together route overlays of big routes.
Reconnaissance
Juncture of West and East NangmahSelfie at 6,000m, heading back down to Camp 1 after a fruitless recon for an intermediate bivy site.Reconnaissance on the West Face6100m on the Southwest Ridge. We were hoping there would be a good bivy site on this corniced knife-edge ridge, but no.View from Camp 5800m on the SW ridge during recon (we did not use this site for the final assault). This camp is slightly higher than Camp 1 and on SW ridge proper.Mixed climbing during reconThe juncture between the Zimmerman/Bennett route and our recon route.A high, corniced knife-edge ridge between two large gendarmes on the southwest ridge. We had hoped to find a good bivy site here, but no. 6,100mOut final route would be further left.Descending 6,100m after a day of recon.
The Final Assault
The divide between the West (right) and East (left) Nangmah Glaciers, looking South, from atop the ramp.View from Camp 1Camp 1Kicking deep steps from Camp 1 to the Bergschrund on Day 3.High on the West Face at approximately 6,000m. Dusk.View from Camp 2View from Camp 2Camp 3Looking southeast. K13 (Dansam) is the large wall center-right with three buttresses. View from Camp 3View from Camp 3View from Camp 3View from Camp 3Traverse along bergschrund in deep snow between Camp 3 and Camp 4.View from Camp 4Alpenglow over the Lachit and Nangmah ValleysAbove Camp 4, Day 7.Priti approaching K6 West (left). K6 Main and Central beyond.Descending K6 West back to Camp 5 on October 8 (Day 7).Traverse from K6 West to K6 CentralPriti approaching K6 Central. Belayer is on the summit. K6 West is behind.View towards K6 Main from K6 CentralView from Summit of K6 Central looking down in to the Charakusa ValleyJeff belaying Priti to the summit of K6 CentralK6 Central Summit SelfieDescending the Upper Slopes. Glad to get back down below the jet stream again.Descending the West Face19 V-threads down the West FaceHiking back to Base Camp.Base Camp is situated in the green valley below.
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1 Comment
Torry Chen · October 30, 2021 at 6:21 am
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
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