Muztagh Ata

Location

Muztagh Ata lies just south of Kongur Tagh, the highest peak of this somewhat isolated range that is separated from the main chain of the Kunlun by the large Yarkand River valley, and thus generally included in the "Eastern Pamirs".{{Cite journal

History

According to Michael Witzel:

The Swedish explorer and geographer Sven Hedin made the first recorded attempt to climb Muztagh Ata, in 1894. On his first expedition in 1900 Aurel Stein reached the summit while crossing the Karakorum Pass. Additional attempts were made in 1900, 1904 and 1947, the last by the team of Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman who came very close to the summit but were turned back due to cold and deep snow.

The first ascent of the peak was in 1956 by a large party of Chinese and Soviet climbers which included Liu Lianman and Xu Jing from China and, from the Soviet Union, and the expedition leader Evgeny Andrianovich Beletsky. They ascended via the west ridge, which is now the standard route.

Since the first ascent, many ascents of Muztagh Ata have been made. In 1980, a party led by Ned Gillette made a ski ascent/descent of the standard route, the first ski ascent of a mountain over 7500 m. An ascent of the much harder south-east ridge was made in 2000 and repeated in 2006. A secondary route at the west side of the mountain was first climbed in the summer of 2005. In 2011, the Swedish climber Anneli Wester camped on the summit overnight after climbing the mountain solo and alpine style. In 2013, Aron Ralston, the man who famously amputated his own arm during a hiking accident in 2003, made the summit without his compatriot Michael Ash, who sustained a lung injury and was forced to return to base camp.

References

Citations

Sources

• Himalayan Index

References

1. [http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/china2.html "China II: Sinkiang – Xinjiang"]. Peaklist.org. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
2. Note: The footnote in this source states: "''The frequently cited 7546m elevation should be replaced by the newer 7509m elevation that appears on Chinese maps, and is more compatible with [[SRTM]].''" [http://peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/china2.html#FOotnotes "China II: Sinkiang – Xinjiang"]. Footnote#9. Peaklist.org. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3. (2012). "Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism". Brill.
4. Meyer, Karl E.. (2009). "Tournament of Shadows : the Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia.". Basic Books.
5. Shipton. (1951). "The Mountains of Tartary". Hodder & Stoughton.
6. Beletsky, E. A.. (1958). "В ГОРАХ ЗАПАДНОГО КИТАЯ (In the Mountains of Western China)". ИЗВЕСТИЯ ВСЕСОЮЗНОГО ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО ОБЩЕСТВА (News of the All-Union Geographical Society).
7. Hiraide, Kazuya. (2006). "Muztag Ata, 2nd Ascent of Southeast Ridge".
8. (24 August 2019). "Weekend Warm-Up: Muztagh Ata". Explorersweb.