Passu Cathedral

Drawn by the cathedral-like spires, early climbing parties reconnoitred the steep rock and ice of Tupopdan, probing possible lines on its dramatic faces.

On 6 July 1987, the British climbers Andy Cave and John Stevenson made the first ascent of Tupopdan (Passu Cathedral) via the Northeast Ridge.

Its technical difficulty kept Tupopdan a coveted but seldom-climbed objective, repeated only occasionally by experienced alpinists.

With the Karakoram Highway and the Passu suspension bridges drawing visitors, the Passu Cones became one of Pakistan's most photographed landmarks.

The main summit of the Passu Cones reaches 6,106 metres, or 20,033 feet. The same peak is also called Tupopdan, its local Wakhi name, or the Passu Cathedral. It rises about 10 kilometres north of Passu village in Gojal, upper Hunza, and belongs to the South Ghujerab Mountains on the eastern edge of the Batura Muztagh. What makes it look far bigger than its height is the relief. The north face rises roughly 1,700 metres in barely a kilometre and a half, and the summit stands some 3,600 metres above the Hunza River, so the spires fill the sky straight from the Karakoram Highway. It is often confused with Passu Sar at 7,478 m, which is a separate and higher peak to the west. We run both sightseeing trips to the cones and technical expeditions on the mountain.

Tupopdan is the local Wakhi name for the Passu Cones, and it is usually translated as 'sun-drenched' or 'hot rock'. The name refers to how quickly snow melts off the mountain's southern slopes through the winter, leaving the dark rock bare while other peaks stay white. It is the name used by the people who live beneath the peak in Gojal, the upper part of the Hunza valley. Travellers and photographers tend to call it the Passu Cones, for the row of near-symmetrical points, or the Passu Cathedral, because the outline echoes the spires of a gothic church. All three names refer to the same 6,106-metre massif about 10 kilometres north of Passu village. Climbing records usually use Tupopdan, including for the first ascent by the British pair Andy Cave and John Stevenson on 6 July 1987.

It is called the Passu Cathedral because its row of steep, pointed spires looks like the towers and buttresses of a gothic cathedral. The effect is strongest from the Karakoram Highway, where the dark, knife-edged points rise straight above the road and line up almost symmetrically. The same shape gives the peak its other common name, the Passu Cones. Locally the mountain is Tupopdan, a Wakhi name meaning 'sun-drenched' or 'hot rock'. All three describe one 6,106-metre massif in upper Hunza. The outline is sharpest at sunrise or sunset, when a low sun turns the dark rock gold and throws each spire into relief. The north face adds to the drama, rising roughly 1,700 metres in barely a kilometre and a half. That light is when we time our photography stops at the roadside lookout just south of Passu.

The Passu Cones stand in Gojal, upper Hunza, about 10 kilometres north of Passu village and directly above the Karakoram Highway. You do not need to climb or trek to see them. The classic postcard view is from a roadside lookout just south of Passu. A short way on, the Hussaini suspension bridge, a swaying span of planks and cable over the Hunza River, frames the spires and has become a destination in its own right. Come at sunrise or sunset, when the low sun turns the dark rock gold. The cones are visible year-round, though the clearest air usually arrives in autumn. Passu makes an easy base for a day or two, with Borith Lake, the Passu Glacier and the Batura Glacier all close by. We arrange photography and sightseeing trips that take in these stops.

Yes, but very few people do, and it is not a peak for a first expedition. Passu Cathedral is far harder than its 6,106 metres suggests. The spires are steep mixed rock and ice with serious exposure, and there is no easy line to the top from any side. The first ascent was on 6 July 1987, when the British pair Andy Cave and John Stevenson climbed the Northeast Ridge, still the line most associated with the peak. Ascents since have been rare. There is no maintained camp chain or annual rope-fixing, so an attempt is a self-contained alpine climb planned around the party and the conditions. Rockfall, unstable snow and fast-changing weather are the main hazards. You also need a mountaineering permit, a peak royalty and a liaison officer. Most people experience the cones from the road rather than the rope.

For travel, the comfortable window to visit Passu runs roughly from May to October. Autumn, in September and October, gives the crispest views of the cones and the famous golden poplars down in the valley. The Karakoram Highway to Passu stays open for most of the year and the cones are visible in every season, so a winter visit is possible, just colder. For climbing Passu Cathedral itself, the most settled window is summer, broadly June to August, when daytime conditions are most workable on the mixed rock and ice. Even then the high Karakoram can hold bad weather in any month, so a climbing trip needs slack in the plan. Sightseeing and climbing therefore suit rather different months. Whichever you choose, sunrise and sunset give the best light on the spires, and we time roadside stops around them.

Passu sits directly on the Karakoram Highway, so you reach it by road. From Gilgit the drive takes about five to six hours, and from Karimabad in central Hunza it is three to four hours. Many travellers break the journey at Attabad Lake and Gulmit on the way up. The nearest airport is Gilgit, served by flights from Islamabad, but those flights depend heavily on mountain weather, so it is worth leaving some slack in your plans. Plenty of visitors skip the flight and take the two-day overland drive up the highway from Islamabad for the scenery alone. Once in Passu, the roadside lookout for the cones, the Hussaini suspension bridge and Borith Lake are all close by. For climbers, Passu village is also where the approach logistics for an attempt on the peak begin, and we arrange transport from there.

No, they are different mountains. Passu Cathedral, also called the Passu Cones or Tupopdan, is 6,106 metres and belongs to the South Ghujerab Mountains, on the eastern edge of the Batura Muztagh. Passu Sar at 7,478 m and Passu Diar at about 7,295 m are separate, higher peaks of the Batura Muztagh a little to the west, and they get mixed up with the cones because they share the Passu name. The cones are the peak you see from the Karakoram Highway, rising about 10 kilometres north of Passu village. The difference matters when you read climbing reports or compare expedition plans, since a 7,000 m peak is a very different objective. Passu Cathedral was first climbed in 1987 by the Northeast Ridge. If you are unsure which peak a trip or photo refers to, ask us.