Nanga Parbat, Pakistan

Nanga Parbat south face, the renowned and deadly Rupal Face

A mountain to know.

Elevation: 26,660 ft / 8,126 m
First climbed: July 3rd 1953 by Hermann Buhl

The ninth-highest mountain on Earth, and the westernmost "major peak" of the Himalayas. It is one of the famed "14 eight thousanders" AKA mountains over eight thousand meters in elevation.

It holds an immense and dramatic peak rising above its surrounding terrain. It is extremely difficult to climb and very deadly. Indeed it earned the imaginative nickname "killer mountain"...

The name itself derives from the Sanskrit word for "Naked Mountain" (that's more like it) and is known locally by its Tibetan name Diamer meaning "huge mountain".

A notable feature is its south face, the Rupal Face which rises a whopping 4,600m / 15,090 ft above its base and is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world.

The book Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage: The Lonely Challenge by Hermann Buhl tells the momentous and now iconic story of the first ascent.