Saraghrar the highest mountain #78 in the world

The "walk of the gods

Saraghrar is the fourth highest independent peak in the Hindu Kush. The entire Saraghrar massif is a huge, irregular stretched plateau at elevation around 7,000 m (22,966 ft), lying above vertical granite and ice faces, which protect it all around. Its distinct summits are poorly identified, and information gathered from expeditions that have visited the area is often misleading. The main summits are: NE summit (7,349 m (24,111 ft)), northwest summit (7,300 m (23,950 ft)), southwest summit (7,148 m (23,451 ft)), south summit (7,307 m (23,973 ft)) and southeast summit (7,208 m (23,648 ft)). To date (2005), the northwest summit is the only unclimbed peak of the massif.

Climbing history

In 1958 a British team led by Ted Norrish made a first try on the northeast summit (7,349 m (24,111 ft)). This expedition was stopped by the death of member P. S. Nelson. The year after, on August 24, 1959, northeast peak was climbed for the first time by an Italian team led by Fosco Maraini and including Franco Alletto, Giancarlo Castelli, Paolo Consiglio, Carlo Alberto "Betto" Pinelli (these four reached the top), Silvio Jovane, Franco Lamberti (doctor of the expedition) and Enrico Leone, all members of the Italian Alpine Club (Rome section). Their route ascended via the Niroghi glacier on the northeast of the massif.

Franco Alletto (left) and Paolo Consiglio (right)

On August 24, 1967, Satoh Yukitoshi and Hara Hirosada, members of a Japanese expedition led by Kenichiro Yamamoto (Mountaineering club of Hitotsubashi University) reached the South Summit for the first time by the Rosh-Gol glacier.

In 1971, Nagano, member of a Japanese expedition (Shizuoka climbing club) led by Akiyama Reiske, summitted the SW peak for the first time on July 29.

Three Catalan expeditions in 1975, 1977 and 1982 tried the NW summit via a rocky route. On August 9, 1982, Juan Lopez Diaz (expedition leader), Enrique Lucas Llop and Nil Bohigas Martorell reached the northwest II summit (7,200 m (23,622 ft)).

In 2005, five members of a Swiss expedition led by Jean-Michel Zweiacker reached the southeast summit (7,208 m (23,648 ft)) for the first time (Mazal Chevallier, Sébastien Grosjean and Yves-Alain Peter on July 24; Marc Bélanger and Jean-Michel Zweiacker on July 29).

The "ice tower"