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Gasherbrum II Facts & Worksheets

Gasherbrum II was surveyed as K4, and is the 13th highest mountain in the world at 8,035 metres above sea level.

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Gasherbrum II was surveyed as K4, and is the 13th highest mountain in the world at 8,035 metres above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, and Xinjiang, China.

See the fact file below for more information on the Gasherbrum II or alternatively, you can download our 18-page Gasherbrum II worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

GEOGRAPHY

  • Gasherbrum II is located on the border of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, and Xinjiang, China. It is part of the Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas, and located at the top of the Baltoro Glacier.
  • With an elevation of 8,035 metres (26,362 ft) it is the third-highest member of the Gasherbrum group, behind Gasherbrum I (8,080 metres or 26,510 feet) and Broad Peak (8,051 metres or 26,414 feet).
  • Gasherbrum III is sometimes considered to be a subpeak of Gasherbrum II, because the former has a topographic prominence of only 461 metres (1,512 ft).

CLIMBING HISTORY

  • The mountains of the Gasherbrum group were explored in 1909 by the Duke of the Abruzzi and Vittorio Sella.
  • The Abruzzi Glacier, a tributary of the Baltoro Glacier, is named after the Duke.
  • In 1934, Günter Dyhrenfurth and his International Himalayan Expedition, including André Roch, explored Gasherbrum I and II, making it 6,250 metres (20,510 ft) up Gasherbrum II.
  • The first ascent came on July 7, 1956, by Austrians Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch, and Hans Willenpart by the Southwest Ridge. After they set up Camp I, they had to descend, and found the camp—and all their supplies and food—buried by an avalanche when they returned.
  • Despite this, they decided to make a quick summit attempt. After opening up a route, they left Camp III on July 6. The group spent the night in a bivouac sack and reached the top at 11:30 am the next day.
  • In 1975, four expeditions successfully climbed Gasherbrum II, including Jean-Pierre Fresafond’s French expedition, a Polish group under Janusz Onyszkiewicz, and another Polish expedition led by Wanda Rutkiewicz.
  • Four years later, a Chilean group claimed to have used the “normal” route to reach the top. Several others, including Reinhard Karl, Hanns Schell, and Kurt Diemberger also reached the summit.
  • On July 24, 1982, Reinhold Messner, along with Nazir Sabir and Sher Khan, climbed the peak via the Southwest Ridge. During that year, Messner also climbed two other eight-thousanders, Kangchenjunga and Broad Peak, and attempted Cho Oyu. He wrote a book, 3 x 8000: My Great Year in the Himalaya (German: 3 x 8000: Mein grosses Himalaja-Jahr), about this.
  • In July 1984, Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander reached both Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I without returning to base camp, in alpine style.
  • In August 1984, a French expedition led by Daniel Croisot, reached summit and achieved the integral first descent by ski of Gasherbrum II, as witnessed and joined by Dominique Dock who was medical officer for the expedition.
  • In August 1986, Gasherbrum II was successfully ascended by a Slovene expedition in only 32 hours from the base to the peak, with only 22 hours of climbing and 10 hours of rest at the altitude of 5900 m. This was by far the fastest ascent until then.

FIRST WINTER SUMMIT

  • Simone Moro stepped to the top of Paki­stan’s 26,360-foot Gasherbrum II, held his hands aloft, then finally collapsed, placing the point of his ice axe into the summit and ­resting his forehead on the adze.
  • He shook there, sobbing like he’d just won Wimbledon, with the whole of the Karakoram Range sweeping around him in a swirl of incoming clouds. It was 11:38 A.M. on February 2—the dead of winter.
  • With the 43-year-old Italian were his climbing partner, Kazakh army lieutenant Denis Urubko, 37, and American alpine photographer Cory Richards, 29.
  • The three men congratulated one another in English, Moro, and Urubko with the thick accents of their native tongues. Urubko, the stoic of the group, had trouble appreciating the moment. “I was not able to switch off my mind,” he recalls. “Any additional minutes up there could be somebody’s life.”

NEW ROUTE

  • Urubko traveled to Pakistan in 2019 to open a new route on Gasherbrum II. Originally, he hoped to climb with partner María Cardell, but she suffered a back injury during the trek up the Baltoro Glacier.
  • Urubko checked conditions on his planned route and decided to go for it. On July 31, at 7pm local time, Urubko set off into the fading light, determined not to stop until he reached the top and returned to meet the group back at Camp 1.
  • What followed was a nerve-wracking silence lasting 42 hours. Urubko left with no sat phone or radio, no tracking device and of course, no oxygen. His route was mostly out of sight from Camp 1. The climbers there were only able to spot Urubko on Aug. 1 at noon, somewhere above 7,000m.
  • Then the day finished, night fell and nothing stirred on Gasherbrum II. Hintsa remarked how dangerous the conditions were: extraordinarily mild temperatures during the night prevented the snow from freezing and thus firming up.

Gasherbrum II Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Gasherbrum II across 18 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Gasherbrum II worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Gasherbrum II which was surveyed as K4, and is the 13th highest mountain in the world at 8,035 metres above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, and Xinjiang, China.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Gasherbrum II Facts
  • Fact Sheet
  • Throwback
  • Gasherbulary
  • People Behind
  • Give Me Mountains
  • Brum I vs Brum II
  • Mountainous Movies
  • Brum Collage
  • Brum Article
  • Point of View

Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is Gasherbrum II?

Gasherbrum II is the safest and most ‘convenient’ of the Karakoram 8,000m peaks. Experienced climbers who want to attempt their first 8,000m peak would find it an ideal choice. The route provides easy climbing while surrounded by a scenic and beautiful landscape.

Why is it called Gasherbrum?

Gasherbrum is a mountain. Some people say that it means “Shining Wall” because the mountain is so bright. But actually, the name comes from two words in Balti, “rgasha” and “brum,” which mean “beautiful mountain.”

How many Gasherbrum are there?

The four Gasherbrum peaks are the highest points on a huge ridge that goes around Pakistan and China.

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Link will appear as Gasherbrum II Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 10, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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