Koh-e-Brobar

For decades the peak in the Ghujerab Muztagh beyond Shimshal had no recorded name and no known ascent, one of many blanks on the map in this remote corner of the Karakoram.

On 26 June 2011 a Pakistani-led international team summited via the south-southeast ridge and named the peak Koh-e-Brobar, "Mount Equality," for their women's-mountaineering cause.

Samina Baig, part of that first-ascent team, became the first Pakistani woman to summit Everest, putting Shimshal's climbing talent on the world stage.

Koh-e-Brobar remains seldom climbed, a remote and meaningful 6000er for those drawn to its history and its solitude.

Koh-e-Brobar is 6,008 metres high. That figure was measured by GPS on the summit during the first ascent in 2011, and it is why the peak belongs in the 6,000-metre category. It stands in the Ghujerab Muztagh, a remote subrange of the Karakoram beyond Shimshal, in the far upper Hunza district of Gilgit-Baltistan, close to the Chinese frontier. The summit lies at roughly 36°34'N 75°24'E. For planning, the heights below it matter just as much. The approach crosses the Boesam Pass at about 5,090 m, base camp sits at around 4,580 m, and the high camp for the summit bid is at 5,200 m. You spend several days above 4,000 m before summit day, which is one reason a full expedition runs 16 to 20 days, with time built in for acclimatisation on the way up.

Koh-e-Brobar translates as 'Mount Equality'. The peak had no recorded name before 2011, and the team that made the first ascent chose it to mark the purpose of their expedition: promoting equal access to the mountains for women. That Pakistani-led team was headed by the Shimshali climber Mirza Ali and included his sister Samina Baig, then just twenty. Two years later, in 2013, she became the first Pakistani woman to summit Everest, and Koh-e-Brobar was an early step on that path. The name has stuck. Today the peak is known by both its local form and the English translation, so you may see either in climbing reports. For the few teams who go, that history is part of the draw. We run the climb with Shimshali guides from the same valley as the first ascensionists, usually combined with a Shimshal trek.

Koh-e-Brobar was first climbed on 26 June 2011 by a seven-person international team led by the Shimshali climber Mirza Ali. With him were his sister Samina Baig, then twenty, and Arshad Karim, also from Shimshal, along with the German climbers Jens Franke and Christof Nettekoven and Małgorzata Skowrońska of Poland. They reached the top by the south-southeast ridge, which is still the line everyone follows. The party reported deep, soft snow, hidden crevasses with a few falls into them, and a final pitch up steep snow under a large cornice as the crux. Before that summer the peak had no recorded name and no known ascent. Samina Baig went on to become the first Pakistani woman on the summit of Everest in 2013. The mountain is still seldom climbed, and each ascent we organise is planned individually.

Koh-e-Brobar is in the Ghujerab Muztagh, north of the Shimshal valley in the far upper Hunza district of Gilgit-Baltistan, close to the Chinese frontier. It is reached only on foot from Shimshal, over the Boesam Pass, and there is no road, no village and no other traffic on the mountain. People sometimes link it to Gilgit, but it is a long way from there. The nearest road is the 56-kilometre mountain road that leaves the Karakoram Highway at Passu and ends at Shimshal, the highest village in the district. From the village it is about three days' trek over the pass and down into the Sok Sok-in-Dur valley, past the shepherds' ground at Mandliqshaq, to base camp. This is genuine wilderness, which is a large part of its appeal and also why we plan every trip around self-reliance.

No, Koh-e-Brobar is not a beginner peak. The climbing is not technically extreme, with no hard rock or steep ice in the alpine sense, but it is a serious and remote 6000er. The first-ascent party found deep, soft snow, hidden crevasses and a corniced final pitch of steep snow, and that means roped travel throughout and an early start while the surface is still frozen. There is no rescue and usually no other team on the mountain. You need solid glacier skills, fitness for 6,000 metres and the self-reliance to operate far from help. If you want a first 6000er, Minglik Sar in the same valley is the gentler choice, and Khosar Gang near Skardu is another we run. On Koh-e-Brobar a strong small team and good judgement count for more than raw difficulty.

You reach it by road to Shimshal and then on foot. The drive runs up the Karakoram Highway to Passu in upper Hunza, then along the 56-kilometre mountain road into Shimshal, the highest village in the district. From Shimshal it is roughly a three-day trek up to the Boesam Pass at about 5,090 metres. The route then drops into the Sok Sok-in-Dur valley to the shepherds' ground at Mandliqshaq, around 4,150 metres, and on to base camp at about 4,580 metres. A high camp at 5,200 metres is set for the summit bid. There is no fixed-rope infrastructure, so the approach and camps are planned around current conditions. Including the drive, trek in, acclimatisation, climb and return, the whole trip usually takes 16 to 20 days. We arrange the Shimshal community side, the park permits and the porters.

The best time to climb Koh-e-Brobar is from mid-June to September, the Karakoram summer. In those months the Shimshal pastures are open and the high snow is at its most stable. The first ascent was made on 26 June 2011, early in that window. Even in season the first-ascent party dealt with deep, soft snow, which is why summit day starts before dawn while the surface is still frozen. Outside summer the Boesam Pass at about 5,090 metres and the approach valleys are hard going, and the mountain sees effectively no one. Because the whole trip runs 16 to 20 days from start to finish, it helps to plan so the climb itself falls well inside the summer window rather than at its edges. Tell us when you can travel and we will build the dates around the conditions.