Meru Central (6,310m), East Pillar (a.k.a Shark’s Fin). Americans Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk completed one of the most attempted and coveted lines in the Himalaya, when they reached the summit of Meru Central via the 1,400m east pillar (a.k.a Shark’s Fin). Since the first known serious attempt in 1986, this compelling line had been tried well over 20 times by many of the world’s foremost alpinists, including Anker twice, and Chin and Ozturk once. Above the initial snow/ice face, the climb involves hard free, ice, mixed and aid, with difficulties up to 6a A4 WI5 M6. It was one of six ascents nominated for a 2012 Piolet d’Or, and a full account appears earlier in the Journal. On an historical note, it was the 1993 British expedition, led by Paul Pritchard, that first coined the name The Shark Fin (no apostrophe), referring specifically to the east pillar of the then unclimbed Meru Central.