Two local teams have climbed 7,708m Tirich Mir, the highest peak in the Hindu Kush. Despite its height, the mountain sees few visitors because of its remote location near the Afghanistan border. Geopolitics has at times caused restrictions on climbing.
The first team consisted of leader Abdul Joshi and a group of guides from Shimshal: Hameed Ullah, Faryad Karim, Mansoor Karim, and Nisar Ahmed. They summited on August 1 after a 20-hour push from Camp 3. Joshi wrote in a press release that the team climbed a new route on the west face of the mountain, which he named after himself (the Abdul Joshi route).
Joshi’s route on the west face of Tirich Mir. Photo and topo: Abdul Joshi
The team fixed 1,200m of rope on various sections of a route they describe as highly technical.
“From 6,700m upward, the terrain became highly technical, with deep crevasses, steep ice, and dangerous glacier crossings,” Joshi wrote. “The most critical part began at 7,450m with exposed rock, followed by a deadly mix of ice and rock at 7,600m.”
During the climb. Photo: Shishal Guides
Another ascent this week
A second team led by Pakistani 14×8,000m summiter Sirbaz Khan reached the top this past Tuesday, August 19. We are waiting for their report after the climbers return to Base Camp.
Sirbaz Khan’s tracker confirmed he summited at 3 pm local time, his home team told Dawn. Khan was teaming up with Abid Baig from Hunza, and Akmal Naveed and Shams Qamar from Chitral. It is unknown if Khan’s partners summited as well.
Former partners
Abdul Joshi and Sirbaz Khan climbed together on at least one significant expedition: In 2021, they became the first Pakistanis to summit Annapurna. Khan then focused on climbing all the 8,000m peaks without supplementary oxygen, a feat he completed on Kangchenjunga this year.
Joshi climbed Everest in 2023 and K2 in 2024. He also summited a previously unclimbed point on the Passu Cones, a massif of granite spires above 6,000m in the Karakoram.
“But Tirich Mir is one of the most technically challenging and dangerous climbs I’ve ever attempted,” the climber admitted.
File image of Shirbaz Khan at K2 Base Camp. Photo: Naila Kiani
Mighty peak
Tirich Mir is a huge mountain with seven main peaks and several secondary points. It attracted a significant number of exploratory expeditions in the 1960s and 70s. (Read a summary of ascents here.) Its silhouette is visible from the nearest town, Chitral.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Tirich Mir by a Norwegian-British team. To celebrate, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared it would give free climbing permits for Tirich Mir and the entire Hindu Kush in 2025-26.
However, a Slovenian team that planned to climb the peak in July was turned away by policemen when they reached Base Camp, supposedly for safety reasons. Meanwhile, the Pakistanis who arrived later in the season have reported no problems with authorities.
Elite Japanese climbers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima were the last to climb Tirich Mir, via a new alpine-style route they called The Secret Line up the previously unexplored north face. The pair earned a Piolet d’Or for that climb. Unfortunately, they couldn’t even pick up their trophies, as they lost their lives the following year on the West Face of K2.
