Rimo massif
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Rimo I is the main summit of the Rimo massif, in the northern part of the remote Rimo Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram range in India. It is located about 20 km northeast of the snout of the Siachen Glacier. Rimo means "striped mountain." (AAJ 1986:266)
The Rimo massif consists of four peaks sharing the Rimo name: in addition to Rimo I, Rimo II (7,373 m/24,189 ft) is a relatively minor subpeak on the north ridge of Rimo I, while Rimo III (7,233 m/23,730 ft) and Rimo IV (7,169 m/23,520 ft) are independent peaks to the north of Rimo I. The massif heads the large Central Rimo Glacier (on the north side) and South Rimo Glacier (on the east side), as well as the smaller North Terong Glacier (on the west side).
Due to its remote location in the heart of the eastern Karakoram, Rimo was little-known and almost entirely unvisited until the twentieth century. Explorers Filippo de Filippi and Philip and Jenny Visser visited the area in 1914 and 1929 respectively. Adding to its isolation is the unsettled political and military situation between India and Pakistan in the region, especially on the nearby Siachen Glacier. This means that India rigidly controls access to the massif.
The first attempts on the Rimo massif were in 1978, by a Japanese expedition which had little success, in 1984 (first ascent of Rimo IV, by an Indian army expedition) and in 1985, by a well-organized Indian/British expedition led by famed Himalayan expert Harish Kapadia. That expedition climbed Rimo III (Dave Wilkinson and Jim Fotheringham were the summit party) but did not succeed on Rimo I.
The first, and so far only, ascent of Rimo I was made in 1988 by an Indian/Japanese team led by Hukam Singh and Yoshio Ogata. They climbed the south face to the southwest ridge, starting from a significant pass called Ibex Col on the south side of the mountain. The ascent involved 1500m of significantly technical climbing.
See also
Note
- ^ This region is disputed and controlled by India; the whole region is claimed by Pakistan. See e.g. The Future of Kashmir on the BBC website.
References
- American Alpine Journal (AAJ) 1986, p. 266.
- Jerzy Wala, Orographical Sketch Map of the Karakoram, Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, Zurich, 1990.
- Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine-Style, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.