Noshaq

The south and eastern sides of the mountain are in Pakistan whereas the north and west sides are in Afghanistan. The easiest access to Noshaq is from the village of Qazideh in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. Foreigners are required to have an Afghan visa, including a special permission letter from Afghanistan's Ministry of Information and Culture.

Climbing history

Noshaq main was first climbed by a Japanese expedition on 17 August 1960, led by Professor Yajiro Sakato. Other members of the expedition were Goro Iwatsubo and Toshiaki Sakai. The climb followed the normal Afghanistan approach, the West ridge from the Qazideh Glacier.

Noshaq East, Noshaq Central and Noshaq West were first climbed in 1963 by Austrians Dr. Gerald Gruber and Rudolf Pischenger.

The Tiroler Hindukusch-Ski-Expedition of Akademischer Alpenklub Innsbruck (Austria) made the first ski descent from the summit of Noshaq in 1970. The famous meteorologist Karl Gabl was a member of the team.

The first winter ascent was 13 February 1973 by Tadeusz Piotrowski and Andrzej Zawada, members of a Polish expedition, via the north face. It was the first winter climb of any 7000 m peak and is the only winter ascent of this mountain.

From the 1978 Saur Revolution and the decades of wars that followed, the mountain was very difficult to access because of political turmoil in the region. In 2011, National Geographic noted that the trail to the summit was again accessible to climbers, with hopes of opening the area up for tourism.