Northeast face and traverse, Shukriya, 2,700m, WI5 M6,
August 18-24 round trip from base camp.
The beauty of this coveted line, the full commitment of a difficult alpine-style ascent followed by a traverse of the mountain, and the fact that it was the first ascent of the face, makes Shukriya on the northeast face of Shispare a masterpiece of modern high-altitude climbing. Beginning in 2007, Kazuya Hiraide (Japan) attempted Shispare three times before 2017, once by the northeast face. For his fourth attempt he teamed with fellow countryman Kenro Nakajima. Conditions were poor in the Hunza Valley last August, and the pair battled unstable weather throughout the five-day ascent, experiencing much snowfall and spindrift avalanches. In reaching the summit they had made only the third overall ascent of this elegant, sharp pyramidal peak in the Western Karakoram.
The descent of the original 1974 Polish-German route on the northeast ridge and north spur, with complex route finding in bad weather, was certainly no pushover, and two more days were required before the Japanese could regain base camp.
Kazuya Hiraide
- JAPAN
Year of birth : 1979
2009 Mt. Kamet (7,756m) in India with Kei Taniguchi.
This climbing got the Piolet d’Or in 2009 for the first time as an Asian.
Kenro Nakajima
- JAPAN
Year of birth : 1984
2013 K6 (Pakistan),2014 Hkakabo Razi ((Myanmar),2016 Loinbo Kangri (Tibet).
Start climbing with Hiraide from 2014.
