PART TWO

ULTAR, 1991

The Karakoram forms the western wing of the great Himalayan chain. It is easy to be superlative about the range: it contains the greatest concentration of high peaks in the world and the greatest area of glaciation outside the Poles. But the real attraction is the sheer beauty of the granite spires. The majority of expeditions visit only a few selected valleys. For example, in 1991 there were some fifty expeditions to the Karakoram of which seventy per cent attempted to climb just six popular peaks. As a direct result of this concentration, there are still magnificent opportunities for exploration in the range. Ultar was one such opportunity. At 7388 metres (24,239 feet), this was, at the time of our expedition, one of the highest unclimbed peaks in the range, rather surprising considering the peak is less than five kilometres from the nearest road. But the Karakoram Highway is also five kilometres lower than the summit. There is no easy line, and any route to the summit from the south side would involve a climb of not less than 3500 metres from bergschrund to final cornice.