Hindukush
The word
Hindukush has long since attracted a large number of mountaineers all over
the world. They see the scope of adventure on grand peaks like Terichmir
7708 m, Noshaq 7492 m, Istor-O- Nal 7403 m or Saraghrar 7349 m.
Chitral
and its mountains were just brought to public notice after Major John
Biddulph first visited this region in 1876 after a long journey. He was
highly impressed by the calm environment, majestic mountains and high
passes and the unique Kalash culture. On his return, he wrote his book -
The tribes of Hindukush. So Chitral was introduced to the outer world as
an attractive region. In 1892 the British regularly visited the Hindu Kush
valleys to explore its passes, peaks and glaciers and then
Germans came, to be followed by Americans and Norwegians, climbing the high peaks. From
1960 to1980 there was a big rush of tourists, especially mountaineers and
trekkers of different countries who took interest in the mountain blocked
valleys of this region and dozens of teams came there each year. Many
people lost their lives while climbing. In the early 1980s, this great
rush decreased due to the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. The interest in
the Hindukush dropped dramatically and a new generation of climbers knew
very little about the region, except from information from older climbers.
There was a great need of further exploration but lack of information
about peaks prevented climbers from entering the region. During this
period, a large number of expeditions visited the Karakorum and the
Himalaya and those areas became overexposed with negative effects like
pollution while the Hindu Kush still re
mained and remains today in good
order, with no or minimal pollution. The local porters have been given
training in eco-tourism and the destinations are by far cleaner than in
other ranges.
Hindukush lies in the North of Pakistan and the highest section of their
range lies within Chitral - Pakistan. All of the 48 seven thousand-metre
peaks have got defined routes that lead through Chitral and the Terich
valley. The main chain forms a division between Pakistan and Afghanistan
and the big peaks are form a mountain wall just on the border of the two
countries. There are also about 180 named and 50 unnamed peaks over 6000 m
high and most of them are still unclimbed. Chiantar Glacier is 74 km long,
Udren Glacier 30 km, Terich Glacier 20 km and Roshgol Glacier 18 km long.
All of them make out an attraction in its own right.