Noshaq (or Nowshak) is the highest mountain in Afghanistan and the second highest independent peak of the Hindu Kush after Tirich Mir (7,690 m). Noshaq is located in the northeastern corner of the country along the Durand line which marks the border with Pakistan. It is the westernmost 7,000-m peak in the world. Noshaq (or Nowshak) is the highest mountain in Afghanistan and the second highest independent peak of the Hindu Kush after Tirich Mir (7,690 m (25,230 ft)). Noshaq is located in the northeastern corner of the country along the Durand line which marks the border with Pakistan. It is the westernmost 7,000 m (22,966 ft) peak in the world. The north and west sides of the mountain are in Afghanistan whereas the south and eastern sides are in Pakistan. The first ascent of the mountain was in 1960 by Toshiaki Sakai and Goro Iwatsubo, members of a Japanese expedition. The climb followed the southeast ridge from the Qadzi Deh Glacier. Nowadays, the normal route is by the West ridge. The first winter ascent was in 1973 by Tadeusz Piotrowski and Andrzej Zawada, members of a Polish expedition, via the north face. It was the world's first winter climb above 7,000 m (22,966 ft) At 7492m Noshaq is the fourth highest peak of the Hindukush range and the highest in Afghanistan. The mountain has four separate peaks . The main peak was climbed in 1960 along the south east ridge from the Qadzi Deh glacier by a Japanese expedition led by Professor Sakato. Other members of the expedition were G. Iwatsabo and T. Sakai. The second highest peak in this range is Noshaq East at 7480m climbed in 1963 by Dr Gerald Gruber and Rudolf Pischinger from Austria. The third highest peak of the range Noshaq Central is 7400m . The Austrian expedition of 1963 of Dr Gerald Gruber and Rudolf Pischinger are also credited with climbing the fourth peak of Noshaq range called Noshaq West at 7250m.
The Afghan route follows the west ridge from where it is a relatively straightforward ascent and a polish expedition in 1973 made the first winter ascent successfully. During the Russian war the low Sad Istragah pass was used as a mujahedin supply route and some of the adjoining areas around Qazi Deh was heavily mined which does somewhat make it a risky. The Pakistan route has now considerably eased out permit regulations techinically this is the difficult route. CLIMBING ROUTE The peak is accessible through both Pakistan & Afghanistan as it is right on the border. Logistically the route through Pakistan is more convenient as things are more organized from this end. You follow the Tirich Mir route through the Lower & upper Tirich glaciers to Babu camp From here you branch out from the upper Tirich glacier towards Noshaq base camp. The climb involves crossing a moraine between two icefalls then a scree slope to the south ridge. The two ice falls flowing from Noshaq make it a technically difficult ascent from this side , three camps are established before final ascent is made. Alternately the other route through Afghanistan is from Badakshan & Wakhan . Though we have been organizing things in this area for the last 12 year but logistically its quite demanding. Approaching the peak through Afghanistan cost wise is more expensive as the area is still in the process of settling down and stabilizing, one has to " constantly relocate connection” over there !.
Want to climb Afghanistan's highest mountain?" Martin didn't phrase it quite like that, but after a couple of hours of discussion, that is what it amounted to. It was to be the first attempt from the Pakistan side, for it straddles the border, indeed the first attempt on the mountain since 1978, and of course everyone's suspicions were raised - why hadn't it been attempted previously? Surely there must be a catch? Nope, it simply seems that nobody had thought of it. From the photos the route looked straightforward enough, to where it joined the first and second ascent routes high on the border ridge, and from there it was assumed to be reasonably straightforward. It turned out that the photos were revealing for what they didn't show, and like most expeditions there were several obstacles and difficulties to be discussed and overcome, both physical and personal, before we were truly climbing. The thin medial moraine between two rather spectacular and unstable icefalls plus the 200m of rope we fixed that was exposed to rockfall forced a healthy debate on safety early on, then Karl Farkas (UK), an experienced high altitude climber and KE leader was taken out by an unshakable chest infection and Sam Palsmeier (USA), a keen trekker and budding high altitude climber found that high altitude troubled him, and indeed he had had a close call on Denali just prior.
