Coup in the Karakoram: South Tyrolean Simon Messner and Austrian Martin Sieberer were the first people to reach the summit of the 7,163-meter-high Yermanendu Kangri yesterday, Sunday. This is reported by the Pakistani agency “Discover Karakoram”, through which the duo had organized the expedition. The mountain is located near the 7,821-meters-high shapely Masherbrum.
According to a listing by chronicler Eberhard Jurgalski, Yermanendu Kangri was previously the tenth highest unclimbed peak in the world. The highest is the 7,570-meter-high Gankhar Puensum on the border between Bhutan and China. In Bhutan, mountains are considered to be the abode of the gods and are therefore generally not allowed to be climbed since 2004.
Committed to pure style
Details about Messner and Sieberer’s summit success on Yermanendu Kangri are not yet available. But the 32-year-old son of mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner feels, in his own words, committed to the pure style propagated and practiced by his father during his active days: without bottled oxygen, in a small team, without the support of high altitude porters.
Simon Messner and 35-year-old Martin Sieberer are a well-rehearsed Karakoram team. In 2019, they succeeded in the first ascent of the 6,718-meter-high Black Tooth in the Muztagh Tower massif. In 2021, the two climbers failed in their attempt to be the first to summit the 7,134-meter-high Praqpa Ri, located near K2.
