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Masherbrum (; formerly known as K1) is a mountain located in the Ghanche District in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. With an elevation of 7,821 metres (25,659 feet), it ranks as the 22nd highest mountain globally and the 9th highest in Pakistan. It holds the distinction of being the first mapped peak in the Karakoram mountain range during the Great Trigonometrical Survey, leading to its K-number designation as "K1".
In neighbouring India, this mountain peak is known as "Mahasherbaram", which comes from Sanskrit word referring to "The White Tiger".
The Masherbrum Mountains lie to the south of the Baltoro Glacier and the main range of the Karakoram lies to the north of the Baltoro (which is the route most commonly used to access the 8000m peaks of the Karakoram). However, the "normal route" to Masherbrum is along the Hushe Valley which flows south from the summit.
Masherbrum was reconnoitered in 1911 by Fanny Bullock Workman and her husband, Dr. William H. Workman. It was first attempted in 1938 from the south, by a group led by James Waller which included Dawa Thondup and J. O. M. Roberts. The attempt failed just short of the summit, when J.B. Harrison and R.A. Hodgkin, severely frostbitten, had to return due to bad weather.
Two more unsuccessful expeditions took place, in 1955 by a team from New Zealand and in 1957 by a UK team which included Don Whillans (on his first visit to the greater ranges). In 1955 the team reached c. 7000m. During the 1957 attempt Bob Downes died on the mountain and the highest point reached by the team was c. 200m below the summit.
Masherbrum was first climbed in 1960 by George Irving Bell and Willi Unsoeld, led by the former, in an American-Pakistani expedition including Nicholas Clinch. In Memoriam section of the American Alpine Journal, 2001 They succeeded in climbing the southeast face route that had stymied the earlier parties. Two days later team members Clinch and Pakistani mountaineer Jawed Akhter reached the summit. Masherbrum is the highest peak in Pakistan where a Pakistani man reached the summit on the first ascent expedition.
The Himalayan Index lists three additional ascents and six additional failed attempts on Masherbrum. Masherbrum has only ever been ascended from the north by one route, following the Northwest Ridge before traversing across the upper Northwest Face to reach the summit saddle.
In her book, Voyage au Bout du Vide: Une Cordėe Alpine au Masherbrum, the French mountaineer provides a dramatic account of her 1980 attempt, with David Belden, to ascend Masherbrum in alpine style. Their three-month expedition, bedeviled by bad weather, ended in failure when avalanches swept their camp and injured de Colombel, leading to a desperate three-day retreat in whiteout conditions.
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