Chogolisa: The Bride Peak Above Gondogoro

Chogolisa is a 7,665-metre peak in the Karakoram of Gilgit-Baltistan, standing above the upper Baltoro and Vigne glaciers south of Concordia. Trekkers know Chogolisa peak as the long white wall that closes the view up the Baltoro, and climbers know it for two things: a world altitude record set on its slopes in 1909, and the death of Hermann Buhl in 1957.

This guide covers the mountain's height and shape, its climbing history with dates, and the two trekking routes from which you can see it without climbing anything.

Where is Chogolisa, and how high is it?

Chogolisa stands in Baltistan, in the Concordia region of the Karakoram, on the south side of the upper Baltoro glacier. The Vigne glacier runs along its western side and joins the Baltoro close to Concordia, the glacier junction at 4,691 metres where the trek to K2 base camp turns north.

The mountain has two summits on one long ridge. The south-western top, Chogolisa I, is the higher at 7,665 metres. The north-eastern top, Chogolisa II, is 7,654 metres. With only 11 metres between them and a near-level snow crest joining the two, the mountain reads from below as a broad roof and not as a single point, which is what sets it apart from the sharp outlines of K2, Mitre Peak and Masherbrum nearby.

With a prominence of 1,624 metres, Chogolisa is an independent mountain and not a shoulder of anything higher. It is ranked the 36th highest in the world.

Why is it called Bride Peak?

The British explorer Martin Conway gave the north-eastern summit the name Bride Peak in 1892, during his survey expedition up the Baltoro. The name is generally taken to refer to the mountain's unbroken covering of snow. Bride Peak is still used as an alternative name for the whole mountain, though Chogolisa is the name you will hear from guides and see on trekking maps.

1909: a world altitude record

The first serious attempt came from the Duke of the Abruzzi's Italian expedition in 1909, the same expedition that gave its name to the Abruzzi Spur on K2. The party placed a base camp on the north side and a high camp at 6,335 metres on the saddle now called the Chogolisa saddle.

From there the Duke and his guides reached 7,498 metres before bad weather stopped them, about 170 metres short of the top. No one had been recorded higher on any mountain. The record stood for thirteen years, until the 1922 British attempt on Everest.

1957: the death of Hermann Buhl

Hermann Buhl was already one of the best-known climbers alive. On 3 July 1953 he had made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat, climbing the final section alone and without bottled oxygen.

In 1957 he returned to Pakistan with a four-man Austrian team: Marcus Schmuck, Fritz Wintersteller, Kurt Diemberger and Buhl himself. On 9 June all four stood on the 8,051-metre summit of Broad Peak, having climbed it without oxygen, high-altitude porters or a supported base camp.

Less than three weeks later Buhl and Diemberger set out for the unclimbed Chogolisa in the same lightweight style. On 27 June a snowstorm caught them high on the south-east ridge near Chogolisa II and they turned back. In the whiteout Buhl strayed onto a cornice overhanging the north face. It broke under him. Diemberger, who had lost sight of his partner in the storm, found Buhl's tracks leading to the fresh break in the edge.

Buhl's body has never been found.

1958 and 1975: the two summits are climbed

The lower summit fell first. On 4 August 1958 Masao Fujihira and Kazumasa Hirai, of a Kyoto University Academic Alpine Club expedition led by Takeo Kuwabara, reached the top of Chogolisa II.

The higher summit waited another seventeen years. On 2 August 1975 Fred Pressl and Gustav Ammerer, members of an Austrian expedition led by Eduard Koblmueller, made the first ascent of Chogolisa I. The mountain's cornices nearly claimed a second Austrian on that climb: Koblmueller himself went through one, but he was roped and his partners held him.

Chogolisa is still an expedition peak. It has no trekking route to the top, and it sees a small fraction of the traffic of the 8,000-metre mountains around Concordia.

Where can trekkers see Chogolisa?

You cannot see Chogolisa from any road. Both viewpoints are several days' walk up the Baltoro glacier from the roadhead beyond Skardu.

From Concordia

At Concordia, where the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers meet at 4,691 metres, K2 and Broad Peak fill the view to the north. Turn round and Chogolisa stands to the south, above the Vigne glacier, with the Gasherbrum group away to the east. This is the view most trekkers get, and it needs no technical skill beyond the glacier walking of the standard trek. Our Concordia guide describes the full circle of peaks, and the K2 base camp trek guide covers the route in.

From the Gondogoro La

The closer view is from the Gondogoro La, the 5,585-metre pass that links the Vigne glacier with the Gondogoro glacier and the Hushe valley, about 25 km south of K2. Trekkers leaving Concordia by this route walk up the Vigne glacier beneath Chogolisa's flanks before the climb to the pass.

The pass is a different undertaking from the base camp trek. Both sides are snow slopes of up to 50 degrees, crampons are needed, and fixed ropes are normally in place near the top in season. It is easier early in the season, from about the last days of June, and becomes more dangerous in August as the snow melts back and rockfall and crevasses increase. Our Gondogoro La trek guide and the comparison of K2 base camp and Gondogoro La help with that choice.

Planning a trek to see it

Chogolisa is a reason to look south at Concordia, not a destination with its own itinerary. Anyone who reaches Concordia sees it.

• Season. The Baltoro trekking season runs through the summer; see the best time for the K2 base camp trek.
• Permits. The Baltoro lies in a zone where foreign trekkers need a permit and a licensed guide. Our trekking permit guide for Gilgit-Baltistan sets out the current rules.

For shorter trips in the same region, our Skardu page lists what can be done without a glacier trek.

Is Chogolisa worth a trip?

Not on its own. No sensible plan is built around one 7,000-metre peak that can be seen only from the far end of a long glacier walk.

It is, though, one of the rewards of going all the way to Concordia instead of turning back at an earlier camp, and the close view of it is one of the rewards of the harder exit over the Gondogoro La. If mountaineering history interests you, standing where the Vigne glacier meets the Baltoro and looking up at the ridge where Buhl disappeared is one of the more sobering moments on the route.

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