ISLAMABAD,Thursday, July 3, 2025 (WNP): The summer climbing season in Pakistan has officially begun with five international mountaineers successfully summiting Nanga Parbat (8,125 metres), the world’s ninth-highest peak, in a series of pioneering ascents.

Czech climbers Marek Novotny and Ondra Hlasny reached the summit via the classic Diamir face route on June 26 at noon, marking the first summit from the western side this season. The successful ascent was confirmed by Ghulam Muhammad, General Manager of Blue Sky Treks and Tours, which organized the expedition. He stated that both climbers had safely descended and were en route back to their home country.

Two days earlier, on June 24, veteran German alpinist David Johannes Goettler, along with renowned French ski mountaineers Tiphaine Duperier and Boris Langenstein, scaled the mountain from the formidable Rupal face—widely regarded as one of the most challenging routes in the Himalayas. The trio climbed via the historic Schell route, first established by Austrian climber Hanns Schell in 1976.

The descent from the summit was as remarkable as the climb. Goettler launched a solo paraglider flight from the peak, while Duperier and Langenstein completed the first-ever ski descent from Nanga Parbat’s summit—and notably, the first ski descent from the steep and deadly Rupal face, making mountaineering history.

Nanga Parbat, ominously nicknamed the “Killer Mountain” due to its notoriously difficult terrain and high fatality rate, has now become the season’s first 8,000-metre peak in Pakistan to be summited. The successful climbs set the tone for what is expected to be a bustling summer for mountaineering expeditions in Pakistan’s northern high-altitude ranges, drawing elite climbers from around the world.

With the Karakoram and western Himalayas opening up for the season, all eyes now turn to Pakistan’s other towering giants, including K2, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum I and II.