9. Nanga Parbat; The 9th Highest Mountain (Peak) in The World

Nanga Parbat is the Ninth highest peak of the world situated in Pakistan. It is 8,126 meters above the sea level. It is located in the Gilgit- Baltistan region of Pakistan and south of Indus river. It is locally called as Diamir which means Huge mountain. This peak is very difficult to climb. In the mid and early- 20^th century, numerous mountaineering deaths occurred by which it has the nickname “Killer Mountain”.

To the south, it has the highest face known as a Rupal face which rises at the height of 4,600m. To the north, a complex, gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises at the height of 7,000m from Indus river valley to the summit at the distance of 25km. it is one of the two peaks which rank top twenty of both the highest mountain and the most prominent peaks of the world with the rank of ninth and fourteenth respectively. The first ranked peak in both of the list is Mount Everest. The key col for this mountain is Zoji La which is in Kashmir that connects the Nanga Parbat to the higher peaks in the Himalaya Karakoram range. The core of Nanga Parbat I a long ridge which is an enormous bulk of rock and ice that trends from southwest to northwest.

Mount Nanga Parbat (image source: dawn.com)

Nanga Parbat was discovered by Europeans and soon the attempts to reach the summit stated because of its accessibility.

In 1895, An expedition led by Albert F. Mummery reached the height of 6,100m on the west face.
In 1930, The mountain became the focus of German climbers.
In 1932, An expedition led by Willy Merkl climbed the mountain but they couldn’t reach the summit due to the poor weather and poor planning.
In 1937, an expedition led by Karl Wein climbed the mountain but they couldn’t go further due to heavy snowfall and 16 men died of an avalanche.
On July 3, 1953, Hermann Buhl an Austrian climber who was the member of German- Austrian team reached the summit via the Rakhiot Flank. Up to that time, 31 people already died on the mountain. Buhl is the only man who made the first ascent of the killer mountain alone and he made the ascent without oxygen supplement.

In 1962, Toni Kinshofer, Siegfried Low and A. Mannhardt from Germany made the second ascent via the Diamir face of Mountain which is now considered as the standard route of the mountain. They climb the mountain through the left side of the face as the middle face is threatened by avalanches from massive glaciers.
In 1970, Brothers Reinhold Messner and Gunther reached the summit which was the third ascent of the mountain and also the first ascent of the Rupal face but they became unable to descend through the original path and they descended by Diamir Face.
In 1976, four climbers made the sixth summit via the Rupal face named the route as a Schell route.
In 1984, Liliane Barrard, a female French climber became the first woman to climb the Nanga Parbat. She climbed the mountain with her husband Maurice Barrard.
In 1985, a polish team of the woman reached the summit via the Diamir face route.
In 1988, Mark Twight, Wardd Robinson, Kevin Doyle and Barry Blanchard brought Modern Superalpinism.
In August 2005, Military Helicopters of Pakistan rescued Tomaz Humar, a Slovenian mountaineer who was stuck under ice ledge at the height of 5,900m for six days. This rescue was believed to be one of the successful rescues carried at the high altitude.

On July 15, 2008, Karl Unterkircher, an Italian alpinist fell into a crevasse during an attempt to open a new route and died but his friends were rescued by Pakistani Army.
On July 12, 2009, Go mi- Young, a South Korean climber fell off a cliff due to the bad weather after reaching the summit in the race to be the first woman to climb 14 eight-thousanders.
On July 15, 2012, Sandy Allan and Rick Allen from Scotland made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat via the Mazeno Ridge which is 10 Km long. In April 2013, they were awarded Piolet d’Or for their big achievement.
On February 26, 2016, a team of Alex Txikon, Simone Moro, and Ali Sadpara successfully climbed the mountain for the first time in a winter season.

On June 23, 2013, Ten foreign climbers and one Pakistani guide at base camp were shot to death by about 15 extremist militants wearing Gilgit Scouts uniforms. The attack occurred around 1 pm and it was claimed by a local branch of Taliban.

10. Annapurna- The 10th Highest Mountain (Peak) in The World With Pictures

Annapurna is the 10^th highest mountain in the world and 9^th highest peak in Nepal. It has the height of 8,091m. It is situated in North-east Nepal. It consists of one peak which is over 8,000m, thirteen peaks over 7,000m, sixteen peaks over 6,000m. The massif of Annapurna is 55 kilometers long and it is bounded by Kali Gandaki George on the west, Pokhara valley in the south, Marshyangdi river on East and North. The entire surrounding and massif are protected by Annapurna conservation area within the area of 7,629 km which is the first and largest conservation area of Nepal. It is home to world-class treks.

Annapurna is one of the world’s most dangerous Mountain to climb with a higher fatality rate. The fatality to summit ratio of 32% is the highest among the eight thousand mountains. There have been 52 deaths during 191 successful ascents and nine deaths during descent. The ratio of 34 deaths per 100 safely returns from Annapurna is followed by 21 for Nanga Parbat and 29 for K2. In 1970, Britons lan Clough, in 1982, Alex Macintyre, In 1992, Frenchman Pierre Beghin, In 1997, Russian Kazakh Anatoli Boukreev, In 2008, Spaniard Inaki Ochoa and In 2011, Korean Park Young-Seok were the climbers killed on the peak of Annapurna. The most difficult face to climb is the south face. In October 2014, 43people were killed due to avalanches and heavy snowfall which was the worst ever trekking disaster. The word Annapurna came from Sanskrit which means Goddess of Harvests.

There are six prominent peaks in Annapurna Massif of height over 7,200m elevation;

Annapurna I; 8,091m, it is the main peak.
Annapurna II; 7,937m
Annapurna III; 7,555m
Annapurna IV; 7,525m
Gangapurna; 7,455m
Annapurna South; 7,219m
And less prominent peaks are;
Annapurna I central; 8,051m
Annapurna I East; 8,010m
Annapurna Fang; 7,647m
Lachenal peak; 7,140m
Machhapuchchhre; 6,993m
Hiuchuli; 6,441m

Various events took place during climbing the mountain. And the full information about it are;

On June 3, 1950, a French expedition led by Gaston Rebuffat, Marcel Ichac, Jean Couzy, Lionel Terray, Jacques out, Francis de Noyelle and Marcel Schatz made the first ascent. It was their great achievement and the summit they achieved was the highest summit attained for three years until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest was done.
In 1970, Dougal Haston and Don Whillans first climbed the south face of Annapurna using supplementary oxygen. During the descent, some of the members of the team were killed by falling a serac.
In 1978, American Women’s Himalayan Expedition led by Arlene Blum became the first team of USA to climb the Annapurna Mountain.
On May 23^rd, 1981, Polish expedition set a new route on Annapurna I central and reached the summit.
On February 3rd, 1987, Polish climbers, Artur Hajzer, Jerzy Kukuczka made the first ascent of climbing Annapurna in the winter season.
In October 2007, Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar made the first solo ascent of the south face.
On 8^th and 9^th October 2013, Ueli Steck, a Swiss climber soloed the Lafaille route on the highest and Main part of face which was his third attempt on the route which is called as most impressive Himalayas climbs in History taking the time of 28 hours to make the trip from Base camp to summit and back again.

As the trekking region of Annapurna surrounding is Annapurna Conservation area which has three major trekking routes which are the Annapurna Sanctuary route to Base camp of Annapurna, Jomsom trek to Jomsom and Muktinath and the Annapurna circuit circling the Annapurna Himal itself as well includes the route of Jomsom. The starting point for these treks is Pokhara which also serves a good starting point for other near treks such as Ghandruk, Ghorepani.

The geographical part of Annapurna is a Mustang district which is a kingdom bordering Tibet. The treks to upper Mustang are restricted especially. In the present context, Mustang is gaining popularity among the national and international visitors due to its admirable beauty as well it is famous for Mountain biking as roads are constructing in various parts of Mustang. About 2/3^rd of all trekkers visit Annapurna region. As the Annapurna area is easily accessible, guest houses are plentiful, and trek provides the best and beautiful diverse scenery with lowland villages and high mountains.

So, I am hoping that you came to know much more about Top ten highest mountains of the world.