Nanga Parbat

Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

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Nanga Parbat, often called the “Killer Mountain,” is the ninth-highest peak in the world, standing at a formidable 8,126 meters (26,660 feet) above sea level. It anchors the western edge of the Himalayas in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and is known locally as Diamer—meaning “King of the Mountains.” What makes Nanga Parbat so legendary isn’t just its height, but its sheer drama.

The Rupal Face on its southern side rises an astonishing 4,600 meters (15,090 feet) from base to summit—one of the tallest mountain faces on Earth. On the north, the Rakhiot Face plunges over 7,000 meters to the Indus River, forming one of the deepest gorges in the world. Climbers have long been drawn to its beauty and challenge.

The first successful ascent was made in 1953 by Austrian mountaineer Hermann Buhl, who completed the final push solo and without supplemental oxygen—a feat still considered one of the greatest in mountaineering history. But the mountain’s reputation for danger is well-earned; early expeditions, especially by German teams in the 1930s, suffered heavy losses.