Terich Mir

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title: "Terich Mir" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["upper-chitral-district", "mountains-of-khyber-pakhtunkhwa", "mountains-of-pakistan", "mountains-of-the-hindu-kush", "seven-thousanders-of-the-hindu-kush"] description: "Highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, located in Pakistan" topic_path: "geography/pakistan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terich_Mir" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, located in Pakistan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Tirich Mir
photo	Tirich Mir (The Kingdom Of Djinns And Fairies).jpg
photo_caption	Tirich Mir summit at night
map	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa#Pakistan
location	Chitral District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
label_position	right
elevation_m	7708
elevation_ref
Ranked 33rd
prominence_m	3908
prominence_ref
Ranked 30th
listing	Ultra
range	Hindu Kush
coordinates
coordinates_ref
first_ascent	A. Næss, , Henry Berg, and T. Streather in 1950
easiest_route	glacier/snow/ice
native_name	khw
map_size	260
::

| name = Tirich Mir | photo = Tirich Mir (The Kingdom Of Djinns And Fairies).jpg | photo_caption =Tirich Mir summit at night | map = Khyber Pakhtunkhwa#Pakistan | map_caption = | location = Chitral District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan | label_position = right | elevation_m = 7708 | elevation_ref = Ranked 33rd | prominence_m = 3908 | prominence_ref = Ranked 30th | listing = Ultra | range = Hindu Kush | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | first_ascent = A. Næss, , Henry Berg, and T. Streather in 1950 | easiest_route = glacier/snow/ice | native_name = khw | map_size = 260 Terich Mir (also spelled Terichmir, Tirich Mir and Turch Mir), 7708 m, is the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range, the 33rd highest peak in the world and the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas–Karakoram range. It is located in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Geography

Tirich Mir overlooks the town of Chitral and it can be easily seen from the main bazaar. The usual approach to the mountain is up the Tirich valley which has the Tirich Glacier at its head. The glacier is encircled by three of the 7000m peaks in the Hindu Kush: Tirich Mir, Noshaq and Istor-o-Nal. The meltwaters from the glaciers on the north side of Tirich Mir and the south sides of Noshaq and Istor-o-Nal flow into the river running down the Tirich valley to join the waters of the Torkhow River, and form a major tributary of the Chitral River.

From the confluence at the Torkhow valley, about 100km north-east of Chitral and a few km south of the village of Shagram, a jeep track leads up the Tirich valley to Shagrom, the highest permanent settlement. There are summertime grazing pastures and shepherd huts further up the valley from Shagrom, and above there is the snout of the lower Tirich glacier which is fed by glaciers from seven sub-valleys, those meet at the Tirich Concordia glacial confluence.

Geology

The mountain is mainly composed of the mid-Cretaceous granitic Tirich Mir pluton which is cut by numerous dykes. The pluton cuts a sequence of metagabbros, peridotites and gneisses which form a high-grade metamorphic belt known as the Tirich Boundary Zone (TBZ).

Mountaineering

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Going_out_camping_with_pops_-_Chitral_Gol_national_park.jpg" caption="Chitral Gol"] ::

The first recorded ascent of the mountain was on 21 July 1950 by a Norwegian-British expedition consisting of Arne Næss, , Henry Berg, and Tony Streather, they approached the mountain from the South Barum glacier, which runs towards the peak from the south-east, and then climbed the south ridge. The expedition is depicted in the 1952 documentary film Tirich Mir til topps.

A Czechoslovak expedition established a route via the Upper Tirich Glacier and northwest ridge in 1967, that is now regarded as the 'normal route'.

In July 2023 the Japanese mountaineers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima made the first ascent of the 2,200m north face of Tirich Mir. They spent two days approaching the Lower Tirich Glacier from base camp and bivouacked three nights during the climb and once more as they descended to the northwest - along the 1967 'normal' route. The 2025 Piolets d'Or was awarded for this ascent, the award was made posthumously because the two climbers had fallen to their death in the summer of 2024 whilst attempting a new route on the West Face of K2 in alpine-style.

Climate

The weather station 4245 m above sea level lies in the Tundra climate/Alpine climate (ET) zone according to Köppen Climate Classification. On this specific altitude (4245 m asl) we find moderately cold winters and cool summers generally above freezing. Annual mean temperature is -5.25 °C, which puts the station well inside the range of continuous permafrost. The average temperature in the coldest month of January is -17.5 °C and the two hottest months of July and August have mean temperatures of 6.5 C. Average low temperatures range from -23 C in January to 0 C in July and August. The summit has an Ice cap climate (EF) where no month has an average temperature above 0 C.

|metric first = y |single line = y |Jan high C = −12.0 |Feb high C = −11.0 |Mar high C = −7.0 |Apr high C = −2.0 |May high C = 3.0 |Jun high C = 9.0 |Jul high C = 13.0 |Aug high C = 13.0 |Sep high C = 9.0 |Oct high C = 0.0 |Nov high C = −6.0 |Dec high C = −10.0 |year high C = −0.08 |Jan mean C = −17.5 |Feb mean C = −16.0 |Mar mean C = −12.0 |Apr mean C = −6.5 |May mean C = −1.5 |Jun mean C = 3.5 |Jul mean C = 6.5 |Aug mean C = 6.5 |Sep mean C = 3.0 |Oct mean C = −4.0 |Nov mean C = −10.0 |Dec mean C = −15.0 |year mean C = −5.25 |Jan low C = −23.0 |Feb low C = −21.0 |Mar low C = −17.0 |Apr low C = −11.0 |May low C = −6.0 |Jun low C = −2.0 |Jul low C = 0.0 |Aug low C = 0.0 |Sep low C = -3.0 |Oct low C = −8.0 |Nov low C = −14.0 |Dec low C = −20.0 |year low C = −10.40

|source = Meteoblue{{cite web | url = https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/forecast/modelclimate/tirich-mir_pakistan_1163320 | title = Meteoblue }} |date=August 2012}} ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Survey_of_India,37_P_SE_and_P_NE_Kataghan_Province(1931).jpg" caption="Topographical map of Terich Mir, 1931"] ::

Etymology

The name "Terich Mir" consists of two words terich and mir. Terich is the valley in which mountain peak is located while mir (sometimes spelled mer) means mountain in the Khowar language. Georg Morgenstierne gives its derivation from two Sanskrit words *tirīca and meru (). Several scholars have identified Terich Mir with the sacred Mount Meru mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain literature since Vedic period.

Folklore

According to the polytheist Kalash people 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, 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".

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),

References

1. "Afghanistan and Pakistan Ultra-Prominence". peaklist.org.
2. (17 September 2017). "The untapped potential of Chitral River".
3. Swift. (1990). "Trekking in Pakistan and India". Hodder & Stoughton.
4. "Saltoro Summits Treks & Tours Pakistan".
5. (1996). "Trekking in the Karakoram & Hindukush". Lonely Planet.
6. (1986). "On the Geology of the Tirich Mir Area, Central Hindu Kush (Pakistan)". Jahrbuchtur Geologie B.-A..
7. (2000). "Mantle exhumation along the Tirich Mir Fault Zone, NW Pakistan: pre-mid-Cretaceous accretion of the Karakoram terrane to the Asian margin". Geological Society, London, Special Publications.
8. "NORWEGIAN EXPEDITION TO TIRICH MIR, 1950 : Himalayan Journal vol.16/5".
9. Breistein. (1952). "Tirich Mir til topps 1952".
10. Smida. (1967). "The second Czech Expedition to the Hindu Kush". Himalayan Journal.
11. Nakajima, Kenro. (2024). "The Secret Line: Climbing the Enigmatic North Face of Tirich Mir, Pakistan, Hindu Kush". American Alpine Journal.
12. "2025 Awarded ascents & Special mention".
13. "Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima die on K2".
14. Emmerick, R. E.. (2007). "Iranian Languages and Texts from Iran and Turan: Ronald E. Emmerick Memorial Volume". Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
15. Witzel, Michael. (2012). "The Origins of the World's Mythologies". Oxford University Press.
16. (1989). "A History of Kafferistan: Socio-economic and Political Conditions of the Kaffers".
17. (18 September 2021). "Lesser Known Fact: The Terich Mir mountain in #Pakistan (Hindu Kush's highest) has for centuries attracted the Kh…".
18. Benavides, Angela. (2024-04-01). "Free Permits for Tirich Mir in 2024-25 » Explorersweb".

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