Tirich Mir
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Tirich Mir (also spelled Terich Mir, Terichmir and Turch Mir) is the highest
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
of the
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
range, and the highest mountain in the world outside of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...
range, at above sea level. It is located in the
Chitral District Chitral District ( ur, ) was the largest district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, covering an area of 14,850 km², before splitting into Upper Chitral District and Lower Chitral District in 2018. Part of the Malakand Divis ...
of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was on 21 July 1950 by a
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
expedition consisting of
Arne Næss Arne Dekke Eide Næss (; 27 January 1912 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term " deep ecology", an important intellectual and inspirational figure within the environmental movement of the late twentieth centur ...
, P. Kvernberg, H. Berg, and
Tony Streather Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Reginald Antony Streather (24 March 1926 – 31 October 2018) was a British Army officer who served in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and mountaineer who first-ascended the third-highest mountain in the world, on the ...
, depicted in the documentary film ''
Tirich Mir til topps ''Tirich Mir til topps'' (To the Top of Tirich Mir) is a Norwegian documentary film directed by Rasmus Breistein. It describes an expedition to the peak Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush in 1950. The summit was reached on July 23, and it was the fo ...
''. Tirich Mir overlooks the town of
Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
, and can be easily seen from the main bazaar. It is the closest mountain to
Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...
which is higher than Aconcagua, and thus determines Aconcagua's
topographic isolation The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain ...
. The last village situated in Chitral District before the mountain begins is the village of Tirich. This valley begins at Soorwaht, where Tirich River meets Torkhow River from the west, up to Shagrom—the last permanent settlement of the valley. From that point onwards, there are summertime grazing pastures and shepherd huts leading up to the snout of the lower Tirich glacier, which goes further up to Tirich Concordia, where
glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s from seven sub-valleys slide down and join at the Concordia glacial confluence. It is believed the origin of the name Tirich Mir is "King of Tirich" as Tirich is the name of a side valley of the Mulkhow valley of Chitral which leads up to Tirich Mir. An alternative etymology derives this name from the
Wakhi language Wakhi (Wakhi: /В̌aхi, ) is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and China. Classification and distribut ...
. In Wakhi, ''trich'' means shadow or darkness and ''mir'' means king, so Tirich Mir means king of darkness. It could have gotten this name as it creates long shadows on the
Wakhan Wakhan, or "the Wakhan" (also spelt Vakhan; Persian and ps, واخان, ''Vâxân'' and ''Wāxān'' respectively; tg, Вахон, ''Vaxon''), is a rugged, mountainous part of the Pamir, Hindu Kush and Karakoram regions of Afghanistan. Wakhan ...
side of its face.


Climate

The weather station above sea level lies in the Tundra climate/Alpine climate (ET) zone according to
Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
. On this specific altitude (
asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...
) we find moderately cold winters and cool summers generally above freezing. Annual mean temperature is , which puts the station well inside the range of continuous permafrost. The average temperature in the coldest month of January is and the two hottest months of July and August have mean temperatures of . Average low temperatures range from in January to in July and August.


Folklore

According to the polytheist
Kalash people The Kalasha (Kalasha: کالؕاشؕا, romanised: ''Kaḷaṣa)'', or Kalash, are an Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Kalash population in Pakistan numbers only in ...
who live nearby, this mountain is the domain of the goddess Krumai. She appears in the form of a wild goat, and she is associated with childbirth. In one legend, she disturbed the other gods, and was chased by Imra, who threw her into a fast river. Krumai jumped up the river and ran up the cliff, causing the cliff's shape with her hooves. She revealed her true form and prepared a feast for the other gods, and they accepted her into their pantheon. The
Chitrali people The Kho (, khw, ) or Chitrali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Chitral and Ghizer Districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. They speak an Indo-Aryan language called Khowar. History The Kho people are likely descendants ...
, who are Muslim, instead believe that this mountain is the home of fairies and their fortress. No one may climb it, as doing so will bring death to the trespasser. These mountain fairies are known as "Bohtan Doyak", the "stone throwers".


See also

* Akhlan Terich *
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
*
List of mountains in Pakistan Pakistan is home to 108 peaks above 7,000 metres and 4555 above 6,000 m. There is no count of the peaks above 5,000 and 4,000 m. Five of the 14 highest independent peaks in the world (the eight-thousanders) are in Pakistan (four of which lie in ...
*
List of highest mountains on Earth Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian plate, Indian and Eurasian plate, Eurasian plates in China, India, ...
*
List of Ultras of the Karakoram and Hindu Kush This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and neighbouring ranges. The list includes 4 of the 14 8000m summits, all in the Karakoram, including the second hi ...


References


Books

* Keay, John, ''"The Gilgit Game": The Explorers of the Western Himalayas, 1865-95'', Oxford University Press, 1985, * Robertson, Sir George Scott, ''The Kafirs of the Hindukush'', Oxford University Press, (1896, OUP edition 1986),


External links


Tirich Mir on SummitPost
{{Authority control Chitral District Mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mountains of Pakistan Mountains of the Hindu Kush Seven-thousanders of the Hindu Kush