Mueez Ud Din of Pakistan and Mathieu Maynadier from France have climbed a new alpine-style route on the East Ridge of 7,029m Spantik, located in the Spantik-Sosbun Mountains, a subrange of Pakistan’s Karakoram.
The climbers set off from Base Camp at 4,200m in early June after a rough approach trek over a badly crevassed glacier.
A German expedition led by Karl Kramer first climbed Spantik in 1955 via the Southeast Ridge from the Chogolungma Glacier. This route, which has since become the normal route, had also been attempted in 1906 by Fanny and William Bullock Workman. The pioneering couple reached about 6,700m at the time.
A Japanese expedition led by Koumei Nakamura climbed Spantik’s South Ridge in 1978, when Shigeru Nakamura and Shuetsu Yamamoto topped out on August 8. They reported significant avalanche danger along the route.
Spantik’s Southeast Ridge, rising from the left to the high peak at right. Photo: Wikimedia
British climbers Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders succeeded on the famous Golden Pillar (Northwest Pillar) of Spantik in August 1987, descending via the Southwest Spur. A Korean team did a new route on the same face in 2009. Other expeditions have also used the Southwest Spur on the way down.
We couldn’t find any registered ascent of the East Ridge in the American Alpine Journal, so the new alpine-style route potentially represents the first ascent of Spantik via the East Ridge.
Two views of Spantik from the east. Top: Google Earth; Below, frame of an Instagram video by Mueez Ud Din
