Saltoro Kangri

Infobox Mountain
Name=Saltoro Kangri
Elevation=7,742 metres (25,400 feet)
Ranked 31st
Location= Kashmir, IndiaIndia is in "de facto" control of this region of Kashmir; the Indian claim is disputed by Pakistan. See e.g. " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/south_asia/03/kashmir_future/html/default.stm The Future of Kashmir] " on the BBC website.]
Range=Saltoro Mountains, Karakoram
Coordinates=coord|35|24|01|N|76|50|55|E|type:mountain
Prominence=2,160 m
First ascent=1962 by Y. Takamura, A. Saito, Capt. Bashir
Easiest route=rock/snow/ice climb
Listing = Ultra

Saltoro Kangri is the highest peak of the Saltoro Mountains, better known as the Saltoro Range, which is a subrange of the Karakoram. It is one of the highest mountains on Earth, but it is in a very remote location deep in the Karakoram.

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Location

Saltoro Kangri lies in a region controlled by India on the southwestern side of the Siachen Glacier.

Notable features

Saltoro Kangri is the 31st highest independent mountain in the world. In addition, it rises dramatically above the valleys to the west of the peak(draining eventually into the Indus River). Due to danger from military operations, Saltoro Kangri is little visited.

Climbing history

The mountain was reconnoitered by the intrepid Workman couple in 1911-12.

The first attempt on the peak was in 1935 by a British expedition led by J. Waller, which reached c.24500' on the SE ridge. [ Himalayan Journal, Vols. 8 & 9 ] A British university expedition led by Eric Shipton approached this peak through the Bilafond La via Pakistan with a Pakistani climbing permit. They recced the peak but did not attempt it. This expedition was inadvertently the first move in the deadly game of Siachen oropolitics that would lead to the Siachen War of 1984. [ Himalayan Journal Vol. 21 ]

The first ascent of Saltoro Kangri was in 1962, by a joint Japanese-Pakistani expedition led by T. Shidei. This piggyback expedition put A. Saito, Y. Takamura and Pakistani climber R.A. Bashir on top on July 24, following the S.E. ridge route. [ Himalayan Journal Vol. 25 ]

An unexpected result of these two expeditions in a No man's land area could have been the cartographic aggression by the US, whose maps from the '60s began to show the Line of Control between Pakistani and Indian territory as running from the last defined point in the 1949 Agreement, NJ9842, to the Karakoram Pass (held by India), thus awarding the entire Siachen Glacier to Pakistan even though the boundary was undemarcated from NJ9842 northwards.

The [http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/hi/ Himalayan Index] lists only one more ascent of the mountain, in 1981, and no other attempts.

References

Sources

*Jill Neate, "High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks", ISBN 0-89886-238-8
* [http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/hi/ Himalayan Index]
* [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/dem3.html#himalayas DEM files for the Himalaya] (Corrected versions of SRTM data)