• ABOUT THE SPOT

Mountaineering in Gasherbrum III (G3), Karakoram Park, Pakistan

Elevation:
26089 ft/7952 m
Season:
June to September
Gasherbrum is a pretty remote group of peaks, situated at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier and placed in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas, on the border of the Gilgit - Baltistan controlled by Pakistan and the Chinese-administrated Shaksgam Valley. This massif contains three of the 8000 m/26246 ft high peaks of the world.

Gasherbrum III (G3) belongs to the Gasherbrum group and is situated far away into the wilderness. This is the reason why it has only been summited twice. Even if the peak belongs to the world’s highest ones, fairly standing at the 15th place, very few climbers have set this spot as a climbing goal-to-achieve.

Its neighbors are to blame as it is the third highest in the Gasherbrum group with G1 being the highest. The most common route is the same to G2 but when you get high enough on the G2’s long southwest ridge, you will have to take a left under the impressive granite face of G2. This is the exact same route that one daring climber took when he conquered the face in 1995.

G3 is also known as the Forgotten Peak and lost its summit virginity in 1975. Being a very difficult and not so many times climbed peak, information are not so many like the other Gasherbrum peaks. Nevertheless, it is still a very challenging mountaineering experience that is best to live with the guidance of professionals from the local schools.