Nun Kun
Encyclopedia
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
comprises a pair of Himalayan peaks: Nun, 7,135 m (23,409 ft) and its neighbor peak Kun, 7,077 m (23,218 ft). Nun is the highest peak in the part of the Himalayan range lying on the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n side of the Line of Control
Line of Control
The term Line of Control refers to the military control line between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which, to this day, does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary but is the de facto border...
in Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
. (There are higher peaks in the Indian part of the Karakoram
Karakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
range.) The massif is located near the Suru valley
Suru valley
The Suru valley is a valley in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is drained by the Suru River , a powerful tributary of the Indus river. The valley's most significant town is Kargil.-People of the Suru Valley:...
, about 250 km (160 mi) east of Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
, the state capital.
Kun is located north of Nun and is separated from it by a snowy plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
of about 4 km (2.5 mi) in length. Pinnacle Peak, 6,930 m (22,736 ft), is the third highest summit of the group.
Mountaineering
Early exploration of the massif included a visit in 1898 and three visits by Arthur Neve, in 1902, 1904, and 1910. In 1903, Dutch mountaineer Dr. H. Sillem investigated the massif and discovered the high plateau between the peaks; he reached an altitude of 6,400 m (21,000 ft) on Nun. In 1906, noted explorer couple Fanny Bullock WorkmanFanny Bullock Workman
Fanny Bullock Workman was an American geographer, cartographer, explorer, and mountaineer, notably in the Himalayas. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and usually travelled in conjunction with her husband Dr. William Hunter Workman...
and her husband William Hunter Workman, claimed an ascent of Pinnacle Peak. They also toured extensively through the massif and produced a map; however, controversy surrounded the Workmans' claims, and few trigonometrical points were given for the region, so that the map they produced was not usable.
After unsuccessful attempts to climb the mountain in 1934 and 1937, the first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
of Nun was in 1953 by a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-Swiss-India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n-Sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
team led by Bernard Pierre and Pierre Vittoz, via the west ridge. The summit pair comprised Vittoz, a Moravian missionary to the Tibetans and an experienced alpinist, and Claude Kogan, a pioneering female mountaineer. Since then, other routes have been pioneered. The north-west face was first ascended on October 27. and 28., 1976 by seven climbers from a Czech expedition, led by F. Čejka.
Italian mountaineer Mario Piacenza
Mario Piacenza
Mario Piacenza was an Italian mountain climber, ethnologist and explorer.In 1911 with J.J. Carrel and J. Gaspard reached the summit of the Matterhorn from the Furggen ridge....
made the first ascent of Kun in 1913, via the north-east ridge. Fifty-eight years passed before the second recorded attempt on the peak, which resulted in a successful ascent by an expedition from the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
.
The massif is most conveniently accessed from the road connecting Kargil
Kargil town
Kargil is a town, which serves as the headquarters of Kargil District of Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is the second largest town in Ladakh after Leh...
and Leh.
External links
- Suru and Zanskar valley
- Topography of Nun Kun ex Geographical Journal 1920