Gasherbrum I (also known as Hidden Peak or K5) is the 11th highestpeak on Earth, located on the border of China-Pakistan (Kashmir).[1] Gasherbrum I is part of the Gasherbrummassif, located in the Karakoram region of the Himalaya. Gasherbrum is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall", presumably a reference to the highly visible face of the neighboring peak Gasherbrum IV; but in fact it comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain."
Gasherbrum I was designated K5 (meaning the 5th peak of the Karakoram) by T.G. Montgomery in 1856 when he first spotted the peaks of the Karakoram from more than 200 km away during the Great Trigonometric Survey of India. In 1892, William Martin Conway provided the alternate name, Hidden Peak, in reference to its extreme remoteness.
Gasherbrum I was first climbed on July 5, 1958 by Pete Schoening and Andy Kauffman of an eight-man American expedition led by Nicholas B. Clinch. Richard K. Irvin, Tom Nevison, Tom McCormack, Bob Swift and Gil Roberts were also members of the team.
1975 - Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reach the summit on a new route (northwest route) in pure alpine style (first time on an 8000 metre peak). One day later, three Austrians from a different expedition led by Hanns Schell reach the summit on the American route.
1977 - The fourth successful ascent by two Yugoslavians, again on a new route.
1980 - A French expedition is successful with the 5th ascent and pass the south ridge for the first time.
1982 - G. Sturm, M. Dacher and S. Hupfauer of a German expedition summit via a new route on the north face. In the same year, French Marie-José Valençot is the first woman who reaches the summit. Her husband, Sylvain Saudan from Switzerland performs the first ski descent from the top of an 8000 metre peak to base camp.