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 Nangmah
Selfie at 6,000m, heading back down to Camp 1 after a fruitless recon for an intermediate bivy site.
Reconnaissance on the West Face
6100m 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 recon
The 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. 6,100m
Out 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 1
Camp 1
Kicking deep steps from Camp 1 to the Bergschrund on Day 3.
High on the West Face at approximately 6,000m. Dusk.
View from Camp 2
View from Camp 2
Camp 3
Looking southeast. K13 (Dansam) is the large wall center-right with three buttresses.
View from Camp 3
View from Camp 3
View from Camp 3
View from Camp 3
Traverse along bergschrund in deep snow between Camp 3 and Camp 4.
View from Camp 4
Alpenglow over the Lachit and Nangmah Valleys
Above 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 Central
Priti approaching K6 Central. Belayer is on the summit. K6 West is behind.
View towards K6 Main from K6 Central
View from Summit of K6 Central looking down in to the Charakusa Valley
Jeff belaying Priti to the summit of K6 Central
K6 Central Summit Selfie
Descending the Upper Slopes. Glad to get back down below the jet stream again.
Descending the West Face
19 V-threads down the West Face
Hiking back to Base Camp.
Base Camp is situated in the green valley below.

1 Comment

Torry Chen · October 30, 2021 at 6:21 am

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

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