About the Expedition
(Click Here for Map of the Central Karakoram)
Rising 2000m above the Trango Glacier, the northeast buttress of Uli Biaho Tower (6109m) is a stunning line. If we succeed in making its first ascent, it would rank among the longer rock climbs in the world.
Next door to the world-famous Trango Towers, Uli Biaho Tower has largely been overlooked by top climbers, primarily because of its dangerous approach. All three ascents of the mountain were preceded by an approach via the long, bombarded glacier gully below the east face. We intend to climb the well-featured northeast buttress immediately to the right of the gully for two reasons: (1) to double the amount of technical climbing, and (2) to avoid the objective hazard in the approach gully. After crossing over a minor pinnacle, we will reach the steeper second half of the buttress. There, we expect to encounter steep and sustained granite, which we anticipate will become icier as we gain elevation.
To our knowledge, the line has not been attempted. The face to its left has seen three other ascents (all Alpine style), by two routes. First, over the course of ten days in 1979, John Roskelley, Kim Schmitz, Bill Forrest, and Ron Kauk made the first ascent of the Tower by the East Face (5.8, A4, 1100m). Then in 1988, Italians Maurizio Giordani, Rosanna Manfrini, Maurizio Venzo, and Kurt Walde made the first ascent of the South Buttress (5.10+, A3, 800m) in four days. They managed to free over half of the 20-pitch route. Finally, in a three-day push, Guy Cotter, Paul Rogers, and Nick Craddock of New Zealand repeated the South Buttress in 1989.
We will attempt our line in Alpine Style. Owing to the colossal nature of the outing, we anticipate spending up to 6 nights on the climb. To save resources for challenging leads, we will split into groups of two and alternate days leading and jumarring with packs. However, we will move as a single unit throughout, never separated by more than a rope length. Although the 1979 team required portaledges, we anticipate finding ledges for bivouacking as the northeast buttress appears to be more featured than the East Face. We have no intention of hauling or of fixing ropes, nor will we bring equipment for doing so to Pakistan. If successful on the climb, we plan to rappel the ~500m northwest buttress—the line of weakness on Uli Biaho. It was attempted to within 100m of the summit by a French team led by Jean Frehel in 1974. A relatively straightforward trot down the Uli Biaho Glacier will return us to the Baltoro Glacier and basecamp.
From the roadhead at Askole, we will walk for three days to the Baltoro Glacier to make base camp on the Trango Glacier in late July. From there, it should be a short walk to the base of the northeast buttress.