Ganalo Peak Attempt. Ganalo Peak (6606 meters, 21,664 feet) flanks Nanga Parbat on the northwest. We had access to it from the Diamir side, placing Base Camp at 13,775 feet on the moraine of the Diamir Glacier. We were Emilio Hernando, Jesus Gomez, Mikel Martínez and I. The climb was planned as a reconnaissance for our forthcoming Nanga Parbat expedition to the Diamir face rather than as an ascent in itself. Leaving Rawalpindi on August 1, we drove on the Karakoram Highway and to Bunar Sard. Four days later we were with eleven porters at Base Camp, 10,000 feet higher than where we left the road. We spent five days acclimatizing, which included going to Camp I on the Kinshofer route. We then headed for the virgin summit of Ganalo. After climbing scree, we placed a tent at snow line on the south side at 17,000 feet. At dawn the next day we headed along a sharp but not difficult ridge for what we thought was the summit. When we got to the western foresummit (6400 meters, 21,000 feet), we could see the real summit 650 feet higher, separated from us by a 1 1/4-mile difficult ridge. We gave up hopes of climbing Ganalo, having accomplished the reconnaissance.

Angel Landa, Spain