Nanga parbat

Nanga Parbat (also known as Nangaparbat Peak or Diamir) is the 9th highest mountain on Earth and the 2nd highest in Pakistan. Nanga Parbat means "Naked Mountain" in Urdu. (Sherpas, who are not native to the region but who sometimes accompany expeditions to the mountain, are said to call it “The Maneater” or "The Mountain of the Devil".) Nanga Parbat is one of the most deadly of the Eight-thousanders. It is also an immense, dramatic peak, with great local relief.

Location

Nanga Parbat is the western anchor of the Himalayas, and is the westernmost Eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River, in the Diamir District of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.

Notable Features

Nanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions. To the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises an incredible 4,600 m (15,000 feet) above its base. To the north, the complex, somewhat more gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises 7,000 m (22,966 feet) from the Indus River valley to the summit in just 27km, one of the ten greatest elevation gains in so short a distance on Earth.

Layout of the Mountain

The core of Nanga Parbat is a long ridge trending southwest-northeast. The southwestern portion of this main ridge is known as the Mazeno Ridge, and has a number of subsidiary peaks. In the other direction, the main ridge starts as the East Ridge before turning northeast at Rakhiot Peak (7070m). The south/southeast side of the mountain is dominated by the Rupal Face, noted above. The north/northwest side of the mountain, leading to the Indus, is more complex. It is split into the Diamir (west) face and the Rakhiot (north) face by a long ridge. There are a number of subsidiary summits, including the North Peak (7816m) some 3km north of the main summit.