Ultar Sar

Ultar Sar (آلتر سار, Ultar, Ultar II, Bojohagur Duanasir II)

Lady Finger and Ultar Sar peak at Hunza valley in a morning, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

Ultar Sar is a spectacular 7,388-meter (24,239-foot) mountain rising almost directly above the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan. Part of the Batura Muztagh of the Karakoram, the mountain is remarkable not only for its height but for the extraordinary relief between its summit and the valley floor near Karimabad.

From the Hunza Valley, Ultar Sar appears as an immense wall of rock, snow, and ice. Its summit stands roughly 5,000 meters above the inhabited valley in a horizontal distance of only about 10 kilometers, giving it one of the most dramatic local rises of any major Karakoram mountain.

During the late twentieth century, Ultar Sar became famous in mountaineering circles as one of the world’s highest unclimbed peaks. More than a dozen expeditions attempted it during the 1980s and 1990s before Japanese climbers Akito Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka finally reached the summit on July 11, 1996. Their success ended tragically when Yamazaki died during the descent.

Nearly three decades later, Ultar Sar again became the scene of one of the Karakoram’s most important climbs. In June 2025, Ethan Berman, Maarten van Haeren, and Sebastián Pelletti made the first ascent of the enormous southeast pillar via Shooting the Moon, a 3,100-meter alpine-style route subsequently selected as one of the 2026 Piolets d’Or awarded ascents.

⚡ Fast Facts

Fact	Details
Continent	Asia
Country	Pakistan
Region	Gilgit-Baltistan
District	Hunza
Mountain Range	Karakoram
Subrange	Batura Muztagh
Elevation	7,388 m / 24,239 ft
Prominence	Approximately 700 m / 2,297 ft
Isolation	Approximately 5.05 km / 3.14 mi
Nearest Higher Neighbor	Shispare
Coordinates	Approximately 36.398° N, 74.709° E
Other Names	Ultar, Ultar II, Bojohagur Duanasir II
First Ascent	July 11, 1996
First Ascensionists	Akito Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka
First Ascent Route	Southwest side
Southeast Pillar First Ascent	June 2025 — Shooting the Moon
Nearby Mountains	Shispare, Passu Sar, Batura Sar, Bojohagur Duanasir, Hunza Peak

Modern topographic data gives Ultar Sar approximately 700 meters of prominence and 5.05 kilometers of isolation. Its nearest higher neighbor is Shispare, which rises northwest of the mountain to approximately 7,611 meters.

📍 Location

Ultar Sar lies in the Hunza District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, near the southeastern end of the Batura Muztagh.

The mountain stands only about 10 kilometers northeast of Karimabad, one of the best-known towns in the Hunza Valley. This proximity is remarkable for a peak exceeding 7,000 meters. Many of the Karakoram’s highest mountains require days or weeks of trekking simply to see clearly, while Ultar Sar towers directly above an inhabited valley crossed by the Karakoram Highway.

Its location does not make it easy to climb.

The slopes facing Hunza rise with extraordinary steepness, forming enormous rock walls, icefalls, gullies, and mixed faces. From the valley floor to the summit, the mountain gains roughly 5,000 meters of elevation over only about 10 kilometers.

This tremendous vertical relief is one of Ultar Sar’s defining characteristics.

Northwest of Ultar lies Shispare, while farther into the Batura Muztagh are Passu Sar and Batura Sar.

🏔️ Ultar Sar and Bojohagur Duanasir

The naming of the Ultar massif can be confusing.

Ultar Sar has historically been called Ultar II and Bojohagur Duanasir II, even though it is the highest point of the immediate massif.

Immediately west is Bojohagur Duanasir, a 7,329-meter summit that has also been called Ultar Sar I or Ultar West.

Modern topographic databases distinguish the two principal summits as:

Ultar Sar II — 7,388 m
Bojohagur Duanasir / Ultar Sar I — 7,329 m

This is a case where the numbering does not correspond intuitively with height: Ultar II is higher than Ultar I.

The 7,329-meter western summit is separated from Ultar Sar by a relatively shallow high-altitude col and has much less topographic prominence. It was climbed more than a decade before the main 7,388-meter summit.

For general geographic use, the name Ultar Sar usually refers to the 7,388-meter high point.

📏 Elevation, Prominence & Isolation

Ultar Sar reaches approximately 7,388 meters (24,239 feet) above sea level.

Peakbagger gives the summit about 700 meters (2,297 feet) of topographic prominence. Its key col lies at approximately 6,688 meters.

Its topographic isolation is approximately 5.05 kilometers (3.14 miles).

The nearest higher mountain is Shispare, whose 7,611-meter summit rises northwest of Ultar.

The short isolation reflects the remarkable concentration of extreme elevations in the Batura Muztagh. Although Ultar Sar would dominate almost any other mountain landscape on Earth, it stands within only a few kilometers of an even higher 7,600-meter peak.

🏔️ A Mountain Rising Above Hunza

Ultar Sar’s elevation alone does not explain why the mountain appears so imposing.

Its most remarkable geographic characteristic is local relief.

The Hunza River flows through a deeply incised valley thousands of meters below the summit. From near Karimabad, Ultar Sar gains around 5,000 meters in elevation within roughly 10 kilometers horizontally.

That means a traveler looking toward Ultar from Hunza is seeing an almost continuous vertical landscape extending from cultivated villages and orchards through barren cliffs, alpine terrain, glaciers, hanging ice, and finally a summit above 7,000 meters.

This enormous rise makes Ultar one of the dominant visual landmarks of central Hunza.

Its position also helps explain why the mountain attracted so much attention from climbers. The summit appears tantalizingly close to civilization while remaining protected by exceptionally dangerous terrain.

🧗 Bojohagur Duanasir: The 1984 First Ascent

The first major summit of the immediate massif to be climbed was not Ultar Sar itself but its western neighbor, Bojohagur Duanasir.

A Japanese expedition led by Tsuneo Omae approached the mountain in 1984 through the Hasanabad Glacier.

The expedition established Base Camp at approximately 4,300 meters on June 19 before progressively establishing camps higher on the southwest ridge.

After negotiating difficult sections of the ridge and establishing Camp IV around 6,900 meters, E. Kisa, M. Nagoshi, and R. Okamoto reached the 7,329-meter summit on July 28.

Five additional expedition members repeated the ascent on July 30.

Meanwhile, a British expedition attempting the mountain from the south reached approximately 7,000 meters but did not reach the summit.

The success demonstrated that the Ultar massif could be climbed, but its higher 7,388-meter summit remained untouched.

🧭 Attempts on Ultar Sar

Serious attempts on the higher Ultar Sar began during the mid-1980s.

A Japanese expedition in 1986 attempted the north face from the Ghulkin Glacier. The team battled through a difficult icefall before an avalanche struck one of its camps, destroying or carrying away equipment including food, ropes, boots, and ladders.

The climbers abandoned the northern route and moved to the south side of the mountain.

There, they established another base camp and attempted lines through steep rock and ice. Falling stones and ice eventually made the route too dangerous, and the expedition withdrew after reaching approximately 5,500 meters.

The attempt established a pattern that would characterize the next decade: Ultar Sar appeared to offer routes from several directions, but each was threatened by major objective hazards.

🧗 Attempts During the 1990s

Ultar Sar became an increasingly coveted objective during the early 1990s.

British, American, Japanese, Norwegian, German, Spanish, French, and other climbers investigated different sides of the mountain.

In 1992, British climbers including Mick Fowler and Victor Saunders, together with American Steve Sustad and other team members, investigated several potential lines.

Saunders and Sustad attempted the southeast face, while Fowler and Crag Jones attempted the south ridge in alpine style.

Fowler and Jones reached approximately 6,500 meters before deteriorating weather forced them to retreat.

The expedition nevertheless achieved the first ascent of nearby Hunza Peak before attempting Ultar.

By 1995, climbers estimated that Ultar had already seen around 13 serious attempts since 1986.

That year, a British-American team including Mick Fowler, Caradoc Jones, Stephen Reid, and Ed Webster again investigated the mountain. The climbers explored its northern glacier systems before turning their attention toward what became known as the Hidden Valley beneath the southeast side.

None reached the summit.

Ultar’s reputation grew with each failure.

🌍 Was Ultar Sar the World’s Highest Unclimbed Mountain?

During the 1990s, Ultar Sar was widely described in mountaineering publications and popular accounts as the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.

The description helped make it one of the era’s most sought-after Karakoram prizes.

Strictly speaking, however, the claim was inaccurate.

Higher mountains remained unclimbed, including Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan. Differences in topographic prominence, incomplete information about remote peaks, disputed summit classifications, and the restrictions surrounding certain mountains contributed to the confusion.

Nevertheless, Ultar was unquestionably one of the highest major unclimbed mountains that international expeditions were actively attempting during the period.

By 1996, more than 15 expedition attempts had reportedly taken place without a successful ascent of the 7,388-meter summit.

🇯🇵 First Ascent of Ultar Sar

Ultar Sar finally yielded in July 1996.

A Japanese Alpine Club Tokai expedition led by Akito Yamazaki approached the mountain from the southwest.

Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka made the decisive summit attempt in alpine style, using comparatively little fixed rope and carrying their equipment through the route rather than establishing the extensive system of camps and fixed lines typical of many large expeditions.

Because of the serious danger from falling rock and ice, they reportedly completed substantial portions of the climbing at night when colder temperatures helped stabilize the mountain.

After more than a week on the route, Yamazaki and Matsuoka reached the 7,388-meter summit on July 11, 1996.

The long struggle to make the first ascent was over.

But the expedition soon became a tragedy.

⚠️ Tragedy During the Descent

Reaching the summit did not end the danger.

Bad weather trapped Yamazaki and Matsuoka high on the mountain. Their descent stretched over several days, during which they became increasingly exhausted and ran dangerously short of food.

They eventually succeeded in descending to Camp I.

Yamazaki, however, had developed severe high-altitude illness. He died at Camp I on July 19, eight days after reaching the summit.

Matsuoka survived the descent.

His own climbing career also ended tragically soon afterward. In 1997, he died while attempting nearby Bublimotin, or Ladyfinger Peak, the striking rock spire on the lower southwest ridge of the Ultar massif.

The first ascent of Ultar Sar therefore remains one of the Karakoram’s most dramatic combinations of triumph and tragedy.

🇯🇵 Second Ascent in 1996

Remarkably, another Japanese expedition reached Ultar Sar only 20 days after the first ascent.

The Japan Kathmandu Club expedition was led by Ken Takahashi, who had already attempted Ultar during the previous decade.

This team used a very different strategy from Yamazaki and Matsuoka.

Rather than climbing in lightweight alpine style, Takahashi’s expedition established an extensive route along the south ridge, reportedly fixing approximately 4,000 meters of rope between 5,200 and 7,300 meters.

On July 31, 1996, five climbers reached the summit:

Ken Takahashi
Masayuki Ando
Ryushi Hoshino
Wataru Saito
Nobuo Tsutsumi

The two successful Japanese expeditions had therefore climbed Ultar Sar by separate routes from the south within the same month.

🧗 The Southeast Pillar

Even after the main summit had been climbed, one of Ultar Sar’s greatest challenges remained.

Its enormous southeast pillar rises roughly 3,100 meters from the remote Hidden Valley.

The feature is so prominent and steep that climbers sometimes referred to it as the “Walker Spur of the Karakoram,” comparing its elegant form with the famous Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses in the Alps.

Attempts began during the 1990s.

Teams repeatedly encountered difficult access, loose rock, steep mixed terrain, poor weather, rockfall, avalanches, and the enormous challenge of maintaining technical climbing standards at elevations approaching 7,000 meters.

For years, no expedition came close to completing the entire pillar.

🧗 The 2011 Southeast Pillar Attempt

Japanese climbers Fumitaka Ichimura and Yusuke Sato made what became one of the strongest attempts on the southeast pillar in 2011.

Starting from approximately 4,300 meters, they climbed through gullies and mixed terrain while carrying supplies for an alpine-style attempt.

Temperatures were unexpectedly warm. Melting snow and running water soaked equipment during the lower sections.

Higher on the mountain, the conditions deteriorated.

Ichimura and Sato eventually reached approximately 6,500 meters, the highest point then achieved on the southeast pillar.

Heavy snowfall and worsening weather forced them to retreat.

Their climb nevertheless demonstrated that the pillar might eventually be possible in alpine style.

🏔️ The 2018 Avalanche

A team consisting of British climbers Bruce Normand and Timothy Miller and Austrian climber Christian Huber returned to the southeast pillar in 2018.

After acclimatizing, the team began its attempt despite unsettled weather and reached a camp at approximately 5,900 meters.

Heavy snow continued.

An avalanche struck the team’s tent, killing Huber.

Normand and Miller survived and were subsequently evacuated in a difficult helicopter rescue carried out by Pakistani military pilots.

The accident was another reminder that Ultar Sar’s greatest dangers are not limited to technical difficulty. Avalanches, rockfall, séracs, and rapidly changing weather can make even a strong climbing team vulnerable.

🌙 Shooting the Moon: The Southeast Pillar Is Finally Climbed

The southeast pillar remained unclimbed until 2025.

Ethan Berman, Maarten van Haeren, and Sebastián Pelletti had attempted the objective in 2024 and reached roughly halfway before retreating.

They returned the following year.

On June 6, 2025, the three climbers began another alpine-style push up the southeast pillar.

Over the following six days, they climbed approximately 3,100 vertical meters of steep snow, ice, rock, and mixed terrain.

The most difficult sections came high on the mountain, where the team encountered sustained technical mixed climbing on the upper pillar between roughly 6,800 and 7,200 meters.

They reached the summit together on June 11.

The climbers named their route Shooting the Moon and graded it approximately:

3,100 m, M5, WI4

Rather than descending by one of the historical routes on the opposite side of Ultar, the team reversed its enormous ascent line.

They reached the base of the mountain on June 13, 2025, completing an eight-day round trip.

The ascent represented the first complete climb of one of the most famous remaining unclimbed lines in the Batura Muztagh.

🏆 2026 Piolets d’Or

Shooting the Moon was subsequently selected as one of the 2026 Piolets d’Or awarded ascents.

The Piolets d’Or recognize exceptional exploratory and alpine-style mountaineering rather than simply the highest or technically hardest climbs.

The Ultar ascent was honored for combining technical difficulty, commitment, altitude, exploration, and a lightweight climbing style on an objective that had resisted repeated attempts for more than three decades.

The recognition placed Ultar Sar once again at the center of international alpinism—30 years after the mountain had attracted worldwide attention as one of the great unclimbed 7,000-meter peaks.

🧗 Climbing Ultar Sar

Ultar Sar is an extremely serious expedition mountain.

There is no straightforward trekking peak-style route to its summit. Every successful line involves some combination of glacier travel, steep snow, rock, ice, mixed climbing, complex route finding, and prolonged exposure to objective hazards.

Among the greatest dangers are:

Avalanches
Falling séracs
Rockfall
Icefall
Crevasses
Steep mixed terrain
High winds
Severe storms
Extreme cold
High-altitude illness
Difficult retreat

Historical expeditions have approached from several directions, including the Hasanabad Glacier, Ultar Glacier, Ghulkin Glacier, and the isolated southeast-side Hidden Valley.

The fact that Ultar rises so close to the Hunza Valley can give a misleading impression of accessibility. The mountain may be geographically close to towns and roads, but its climbing terrain is exceptionally committing.

🧊 Glaciers

Numerous glaciers drain the Ultar massif.

The Hasanabad Glacier lies to the southwest and provided the approach for the 1984 first ascent of Bojohagur Duanasir.

The Ultar Glacier descends toward the Hunza Valley from the southern side of the mountain and has provided access for several expeditions.

The Ghulkin and Gulmit glacier systems lie on the northern and northeastern sides and were explored during attempts to find alternative routes.

Smaller glacier systems and hanging icefields descend from the steep walls toward the valleys below.

Farther northwest lies the enormous Batura Glacier, one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions. It extends for approximately 57 kilometers through the Batura Muztagh and drains toward the Hunza River.

These glaciers are fundamental to the geography of the range. They have carved deep valleys between the high peaks while simultaneously creating many of the hazards that make climbing Ultar Sar so difficult.

🪨 Geology

Ultar Sar belongs to the western Karakoram, a region shaped by the long and complicated tectonic collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

The Batura Muztagh contains a mixture of metamorphic and igneous rocks that have been uplifted, faulted, folded, and deeply eroded over millions of years.

Glacial erosion has further transformed the landscape. Ice flowing through the valleys has cut deeply into the rising mountains, producing the enormous relief visible today between the Hunza Valley and peaks such as Ultar Sar and Shispare.

Research in the Batura region has documented exceptionally steep mountains and narrow valleys, characteristics clearly visible around Ultar.

The area’s glaciers and moraines also preserve evidence of earlier climatic conditions. Studies around the Batura Glacier have identified deposits associated with previous stages of glacial expansion thousands of years ago.

🌿 Flora and Fauna

The summit of Ultar Sar is far too high for ordinary vegetation. Its upper slopes consist almost entirely of bare rock, permanent snow, and glacial ice.

The ecological contrast with the Hunza Valley below is dramatic.

Lower elevations around Hunza contain irrigated orchards and cultivated land, while natural vegetation in surrounding mountain environments includes juniper, wild rose, alpine grasses, herbs, and hardy shrubs adapted to dry conditions and large seasonal temperature changes.

As elevation increases, woodland and scrub gradually give way to alpine meadow, rocky slopes, scree, and eventually the near-barren environment of the glaciers.

The wider mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan support an impressive group of high-altitude mammals, including Siberian ibex, snow leopards, Himalayan lynx, gray wolves, red foxes, and Himalayan brown bears in suitable parts of the region.

Golden eagles, Himalayan griffons, bearded vultures, snowcocks, chukar, and other mountain birds can also be found across the wider landscape.

Few animals venture onto the extensive ice and snow surrounding Ultar’s upper slopes, but the valleys beneath the mountain form part of a much richer high-altitude ecosystem.

🏔️ Nearby Mountains

Ultar Sar stands among an extraordinary group of western Karakoram peaks.

Shispare

Shispare rises northwest of Ultar Sar to approximately 7,611 meters.

It is Ultar’s nearest higher neighbor and one of the most distinctive mountains of the Batura Muztagh.

Passu Sar

Passu Sar reaches approximately 7,476 meters farther northwest in the Batura Muztagh.

Together with nearby peaks, it forms part of the immense mountain wall surrounding the upper Batura Glacier region.

Batura Sar

Batura Sar reaches approximately 7,795 meters and is the highest mountain in the Batura Muztagh.

It is one of the world’s highest mountains and the dominant summit of the massive Batura Wall.

Bojohagur Duanasir

Bojohagur Duanasir is Ultar Sar’s immediate western companion.

At approximately 7,329 meters, it forms part of the same high ridge but is separated from Ultar by a shallow col.

Its first ascent was completed by a Japanese expedition in 1984.

Hunza Peak

Hunza Peak rises along the southwest continuation of the Ultar massif.

Although considerably lower than Ultar, it is a steep technical mountain and forms part of the spectacular skyline immediately above the Hunza Valley.

Ladyfinger Peak

Ladyfinger Peak, also called Bublimotin, is a remarkable narrow rock spire rising from the southwest ridge system below Ultar.

Its slender shape makes it one of the most recognizable rock formations in Hunza.

💡 Interesting Facts About Ultar Sar

Ultar Sar rises approximately 5,000 meters above the Hunza Valley within only about 10 kilometers of horizontal distance.

The summit is geographically close to the Karakoram Highway, yet its extraordinarily steep surrounding terrain makes it one of the region’s most difficult mountains.

Ultar was widely described as the world’s highest unclimbed mountain during the 1990s, although that claim was not technically correct.

More than 15 expeditions reportedly attempted the mountain before its first successful ascent.

Akito Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka completed the first ascent on July 11, 1996.

Yamazaki died from high-altitude illness during the descent.

A second Japanese expedition reached the summit only 20 days after the first ascent, using an entirely different route.

Ultar’s 3,100-meter southeast pillar resisted repeated attempts for more than three decades.

Ethan Berman, Maarten van Haeren, and Sebastián Pelletti finally climbed the southeast pillar in June 2025 via Shooting the Moon.

Shooting the Moon was selected as one of the 2026 Piolets d’Or awarded ascents.

The nearby 7,329-meter Bojohagur Duanasir is sometimes called Ultar Sar I, while the higher 7,388-meter summit is historically called Ultar Sar II.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How high is Ultar Sar?

Ultar Sar reaches approximately 7,388 meters (24,239 feet) above sea level.

Where is Ultar Sar?

Ultar Sar is located in the Hunza District of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, within the Batura Muztagh of the Karakoram.

Is Ultar Sar visible from Hunza?

Yes. Ultar Sar rises dramatically above the Hunza Valley near Karimabad and is one of the dominant high mountains overlooking the area.

Who first climbed Ultar Sar?

Japanese climbers Akito Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka completed the first ascent on July 11, 1996.

Did Akito Yamazaki survive the first ascent?

Yamazaki reached the summit but developed severe high-altitude illness during the difficult descent. He died at Camp I on July 19, 1996.

Was Ultar Sar once the world’s highest unclimbed mountain?

It was widely described that way during the 1990s, but the claim was not strictly accurate. Higher unclimbed mountains existed, including Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan. Ultar was nevertheless one of the world’s highest major unclimbed peaks actively open to expedition attempts.

What is Bojohagur Duanasir?

Bojohagur Duanasir is the approximately 7,329-meter western summit of the Ultar massif. It is sometimes called Ultar Sar I, while the higher Ultar Sar is historically designated Ultar II.

What is Ultar Sar’s nearest higher mountain?

Shispare is the nearest higher mountain, approximately 5 kilometers away.

What is Shooting the Moon?

Shooting the Moon is a 3,100-meter route on Ultar Sar’s southeast pillar, first climbed by Ethan Berman, Maarten van Haeren, and Sebastián Pelletti in June 2025. The route is graded approximately M5 WI4.

Did Shooting the Moon receive a Piolet d’Or?

Yes. The ascent was selected as one of the 2026 Piolets d’Or awarded ascents.

Is Ultar Sar difficult to climb?

Yes. Ultar Sar is a highly technical and dangerous expedition mountain involving extreme altitude, steep rock and ice, avalanche exposure, rockfall, glaciers, and highly committing terrain.

Is Ultar Sar part of the Himalayas?

No. Ultar Sar belongs to the Karakoram, specifically the Batura Muztagh.

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