Skyang Kangri
Encyclopedia
Skyang Kangri, or Staircase Peak, is a high peak of the Baltoro Muztagh
Baltoro Muztagh
The Baltoro Muztagh is a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range, in Baltistan region of the Gilgit-Baltistan province in northern Pakistan; and in Xinjiang, China. The crest of the range forms part of the Pakistan-China border....

, a subrange of the Karakoram
Karakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...

 range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

. It lies on the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

-China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 border, about 7 km northeast of K2
K2
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...

, the world's second-highest mountain. The name "Staircase Peak" refers to the East Ridge, which resembles a giant staircase with five steps.

Skyang Kangri was first attempted by the party of renowned climber and explorer Luigi Amadeo di Savoia, the Duke of the Abruzzi
Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi
Prince Luigi Amedeo Giuseppe Maria Ferdinando Francesco di Savoia-Aosta , Duke of the Abruzzi , was an Italian nobleman, mountaineer and explorer of the royal House of Savoy...

, in 1909, during an expedition to K2. They attempted the East Ridge, as did a subsequent failed attempt in 1975, in which one climber died and one had to be evacuated by helicopter. The first ascent was made in 1976 by a Japanese expedition, climbing the East Ridge without major incident.

In 1980, well-known American climbers Jeff Lowe (climber)
Jeff Lowe (climber)
Jeff Lowe is an American alpinist from Ogden, Utah. He is known for his visionary climbs and first ascents established in the US and Canadian Rockies, Alps and Himalayas. He is a proponent of the "Alpine style" philosophy of climbing, where small teams travel fast with minimal gear...

and Michael Kennedy attempted the West Face of Skyang Kangri, but reached only about 7,070 metres. According to the
Himalayan Index, there have been no subsequent attempts on the mountain.

Sources

  • Jill Neate, High Asia: an illustrated history of the 7,000 metre peaks, The Mountaineers, 1989.
  • Jerzy Wala, Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, 1990.

External links

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