Khunyang Chhish

Khunyang Chhish lies in the heart of the Hispar Muztagh, north of the Hispar Glacier, one of the major glaciers of the Karakoram. It rises on the southwest side of the Khunyang Glacier while Distaghil Sar (the highest peak of the Hispar Muztagh) dominates the glacier on its northern end.

Khunyang Chhish is the twenty-first-highest independent mountain in the world. It is also notable for its rise above local terrain: for example, it rises almost 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) above its southern base camp on the Khunyang Glacier, and it rises 5,500 metres (3.4 mi) above the Hunza valley in about 33 kilometres (108,000 ft). It is a steep, pointed, and complex peak; it easily rivals the slightly higher Distaghil Sar to the North, which has a more rounded profile.

Not counting the two Pumari Chhish summits 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the ENE, the Kunyang Chhish massive has five peaks:

• Kunyang Chhish Main, 7,852 metres (25,761 ft)
• Kunyang Chhish South, 7,620 metres (25,000 ft), 700 m SSW, with a prominence of only about 100 metres (330 ft)
• Kunyang Chhish East 7,400 metres (24,300 ft), 2 km ESE, 240-metre (790 ft) prominence.
• Kunyang Chhish West, 7,350 metres (24,110 ft), 1.5 km W, 170-metre (560 ft) prominence. Also known as Pyramid Peak.
• Kunyang Chhish North, 7,108 metres (23,320 ft), 6 km NNE, 517-metre (1,696 ft) prominence.

Khunyang Chhish (centre background) and Pumari Chhish (left background) as seen from Yazghil Sar’s western slopes.

The first climbing attempt on Khunyang Chhish was made in 1962 but the climb was aborted after an avalanche on 18 July killed two climbers, Major James Mills and Captain M. R. F. Jones. Their bodies were never recovered.

The next attempt was in 1965 by a Japanese party mainly consists of the University of Tokyo members. They chose the south ridge of Khunyang Chhish, but another climber Takeo Nakamura died after the collapse of a narrow ridge at 7,200 m (23,600 ft).

The first ascent was accomplished by a Polish team led by Andrzej Zawada in 1971. They climbed a long route up the South Ridge of the peak from the Pumari Chhish Glacier. However, one of their members was killed in a crevasse accident.

The second, and only other recorded ascent, climbed the Northwest Spur to the North Ridge. Two British climbers, Mark Lowe and Keith Milne, completed this route on July 11, 1988. The route had first been attempted in 1980, and had been attempted again in 1981, 1982 and 1987.

The Himalayan Index lists three recent attempts on this peak, in 2000 and 2003.

After four failed expeditions, starting in 2003, the East summit was first ascended in July 2013 by an Austrian/Swiss team over the South Wall.

• List of mountains in Pakistan
• Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
• Highest mountains of the World
• List of Ultras of the Karakoram and Hindu Kush

• Jill Neate, High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks, ISBN 0-89886-238-8
• Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram by Jerzy Wala, 1990. Published by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research.
• Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine-Style, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
• American Alpine Journal
• Himalayan Index
• DEM files for the Himalaya (Corrected versions of SRTM data)
• Khunyang Chhish on Peakware
• A list of world peaks ranked by local relief and steepness which includes Khunyang Chhish

• Northern Pakistan - highly detailed placemarks of towns, villages, peaks, glaciers, rivers and minor tributaries in Google Earth

Kunyang Chhish North. A Japanese expedition from Hokkaido University in 1979 was led by Kohei Echizenya climbed the north ridge of Kunyang Chhish (23,321 feet) to make the first ascent. Base Camp was placed on the Kunyang Glacier at 14,300 feet on June 17. They followed the same route as the expedition to Pumari Chhish as far as the north col. Three camps, the highest Camp IV at 22,000 feet, were established on the north ridge. All eight climbers got to the summit on July 11.