Tirich Mir. On August 10 Jon Dasler, Dennis Olmstead, John Smolich and Allen Webb reached the summit of Tirich Mir (7708 meters, 25,260 feet) via the Upper Tirich Glacier and west saddle. They were supported by Lath Flanagan, Tom Gordon, Terry Jones, liaison officer Hamid Rao and me as leader. We were the first expedition to an Asian peak to arise within and be sponsored by the Mazama Climbing Club of Portland, Oregon. The jeep road from Chitral up the Mastuj River has been extended to Lunku in the Tirich Gol and will eventually reach Shagram. Until then, expeditions are advised to continue using the route from Drasan over the Zani An despite the 5400-foot rise, so as to avoid porter troubles arising from fierce and rigid territoriality. We paid Rs. 900 per jeep to Lunku, 73 miles, were forced by strikes and threat of violence to change porters at Zundangram and Shagram and upon reaching the traditional Base Camp at Qulish Zom. In four days we paid Rs. 575 per porter in total. Following the 1967 route of the Czechs, we placed camps at 17,300, 19,300, 21,500 feet and on the west saddle. Previous snowfall made route-finding through crevassed fields interesting but surface conditions were good. Only one day of marginal weather was experienced from July 14 to August 18. The “overhanging chimney” (see A.J., v. 73 (1968) page 250), consisted of 140 feet of easy to moderate 5th-class climbing with an odd off-balance move. The rock was sound but with some overlying ice. Snow slopes of 55° led to the west saddle. We set 1200 feet of line between Camp III and the col. The route to the summit is mixed snow and shattered rock, not difficult. A ski pole with a Pakistani flag was found on the summit, presumably left by the earlier Swiss party. Costs in the Tirich Gol are out of control because a representative of the Ministry of Tourism is not posted to that area and no such system of “porter’s book” documentation exists in contrast to the Baltoro. Previous expeditions had paid exorbitant wages, setting new standards of expectation.

Robert A. Wilson