Asia, Pakistan, Masherbrum Range, Nangma Valley, K 5,944m (Korada Peak), First Ascent, Bostjan Arcon Memorial Route; Drifika (6,447m), White River Route; Drifika, Southeast Face Attempt; Valley Rock Route, Autobahn to Amsterdam

Publication Year: 2005.

K 5,944m (Korada Peak), first ascent, Bostjan Arcon Memorial Route; Drifika (6,447m), White River Route; Drifika, southeast face attempt; valley rock route, Autobahn to Amsterdam. There are many interesting rock towers and mixed faces in the Nangma Valley. Members of the expedition were Gregor Blazic, Matija “Matic” Jost, Zlatko Koren, Vladimir “Vlado” Makarovic (all four of us from Slovenia), and Hussein, our cook from Pakistan. Our main goal was to climb a new route in Shinju (a.k.a. Shinju or Shjingu) Charpa (Great Tower, 5,800m) in alpine style, but for various reasons we never set foot on its walls. We spent 39 days in our base camp or above. In this period there were 11 sunny days. We managed to climb three new routes as listed below.

Autobahn to Amsterdam: Nice short rock climb—convenient as entertainment during rainy days. Rocky slabs near base camp. 170 meters vertical gain (bottom 3,900m, top 4,070m). UIAA graded pitches: VI, Al/ V, III, IV. Six hours, July 31, by Gregor Blazic and Matija Jost.

First ascent of K 5,944m (Korada Peak), via Bostjan Arcon Memorial Route. Serious ice climb with 60-meter rock band in the middle. We made probably the first ascent of the mountain, and we suggest the name Korada Peak for it. The route is harder than the Swiss Route on Les Courtes. We climbed it alpine style. Elevation gain: 750 meters (bottom 5,200m, summit5,944m). TD+ UIAA V, snow and alpine ice. Ascent 15 hours, descent 10 hours, August 6-7, by Gregor Blazic, Matija Jost, Vladimir Makarovic.

Drifika (6,447m), White River Route: Probably the first route on this face. Maybe some day it will be the normal route from Nangma Valley. We climbed it alpine style ascent. We finished our route 20 meters below the summit on the north ridge. At that point we witnessed the tragic accident of the Spanish expedition about 600 meters below us, on the southeast face. 1,200 meters vertical gain (bottom 5,200m, north ridge 6,400m). D+, snow and alpine ice from 400 to 600 meters, and one point at 900 meters. Mix II (UIAA) and one point V (UIAA). 16 hours ascent, 12 hours descent, August 12–14, by Gregor Blazic, Matija Jost, Vladimir Makarovic.

Beside those ascents we made a strong attempt on left side of southeast face of Drifika on July 26–27, but we were forced to retreat at 6,300m.

Matija ‘Matic’ Jost, Slovenia