Trango Towers are only for the determined.
- The Trango Towers are a cluster of tall, erect rocks located in the Baltoro region of the Karakoram range, in Asia’s Pakistan.
- The Trango Towers’ highest point, is the top of Great Trango Tower, that reaches 6,286 metres (20,623 feet) above sea level.
- The Great Trango Tower is the record holder for the ‘greatest nearly vertical drop’ in the world at 1340 metres (4396 feet).
- There are a number of routes to the different summits, and all require experience in rock climbing, and are of a technical nature.
- The Nameless Tower was the first of the Trango Towers to be successfully climbed, first in 1976 by Englishman Joe Brown, a rock climbing pioneer, accompanied by three other men.
The Nameless Tower of the Trango Towers
Image courtesy of Stefanos Nikologiannis/Flickr
- Altitude sickness can be a hazard when climbing one of the rocks of the Trango Towers, so precautions, like acclimatisation, are recommended.
- Before climbing the Trango Towers, a permit is required, and this can be obtained from the Pakistan Ministry of Tourism.
- The Great Trango Tower was first climbed in 1977 by five mountaineers: Dennis Hennek, Jim Morrissey, John Roskelley, Galen Rowell, and Kim Schmitz.
- The Trango Towers are made of tall granite rock spokes, and they were first opened for public climbing in 1975.
- A few thousand dollars can pay for an organised tour to climb one of the Trango Tower peaks, and the cost sometimes includes a porter.
Bibliography: Middendorf J, Trango Primer, n.d, Big Walls, http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/trango.html
Trango Towers, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trango_Towers
