Georgian climbers summit Langar Zom in the High Hindu Kush
Two mountaineers from Georgia summitted Langar Zom in the Rosh Gol valley of the Hindu Kush. They reached the BC of the said peak in early August and liked to give a try to a smaller peak in the same valley. It is known as Mutrichili Zom which had been recorded by Jerzy Wala as 6392m in his Map of High Hindu Kush and stood unclimbed. This was chosen by the said climbers as first step of exercise and they ascended Mutrichili Zom also called Bulishomo Zom in 4 days. They gave their finding, down grading it as 6225m against the record of J.Wala . They had taken a route to this peak from their camp at Duru Oasis.
After scaling this smaller summit they went up to Langar Zom and chose a new route to the Langar Zom summit which was shown to stand at 7100m. The new route was over a safe ridge and then led them into a couloir. After camp 1 and camp 2 they were able to reach the summit but the last section was near 70 degree steep and a challenging one. They made the ascent in a week on 2nd September and returned safely to the BC and then left for Chitral. They also gave the height as not 7100 but 7135m – the main peak on the west face of that great massif. Langar Zom has another peak rising to 7060m known as Langar Zom east. There are other peaks on this great massif on the south long ridge: south 1-6850m, 2- 6950m, and 3- 6960m. They stand unclimbed.
This expedition hired 26 porters on their way up to BC and 17 porters during their return. The Rosh Gol faces of this massif- the west face and the south face are steep rocks and ice and much challenging for climbers. Finding new routes on this massif is comparatively wide as both faces have extended high walls with many safe ridges. It also presents ice climbing opportunities. Potential climbers may contact this writer for pictures and further information. The climbers have departed for Georgia. It is to be noted that a few years back they had summitted Saraghrar west- 7303m and received a high altitude medal from the world Alpine Organization at Paris.
