BURSTItalians Silvia Loreggian and Stefano Ragazzo made the first-ever link of Great Trango Tower, Little Trango Tower and Nameless Tower in Pakistan’s Karakoram, climbing the three peaks in one continuous push without returning to base camp.
From July 14 to 22, the pair spent nine consecutive days in the mountains, climbing Great Trango Tower (6,286 m) via the American Route, Little Trango Tower (approximately 5,445 m) via PM Wall and Nameless Tower (6,238 m) via Eternal Flame. They travelled on foot between the mountains, using food and equipment caches placed in advance. The objective was to treat the three peaks as one continuous alpine route rather than as separate climbs from base camp.
The original plan was to start on Castle, continue across Great Trango, Little Trango and Nameless Tower, and finish on Monk. After climbing approximately 1,300 vertical metres to the col between Castle and Great Trango, Loreggian and Ragazzo found Castle’s wall soaked by snow and cloud. With only five or six days of stable weather expected, they abandoned the planned new route and moved to Great Trango. On July 16, difficult snow and mixed terrain slowed their progress on the American Route, forcing a bivouac at approximately 6,000 metres. They reached the summit of Great Trango Tower, 6,286 metres, the following morning.
On July 18, they climbed Little Trango Tower via PM Wall before starting Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower the next day. Despite their accumulated fatigue, they climbed into the night and bivouacked at Snow Ledge. On July 20, they completed the upper wall and reached the summit of Nameless Tower, 6,238 metres. The following day, they attempted to add Monk but retreated three pitches below the summit as technical difficulties increased and the weather deteriorated.
The expedition ended with an unexpected turn on July 22, when a major landslide struck base camp overnight. Loreggian and Ragazzo’s team escaped unharmed, but the camp was destroyed and equipment was buried in water, mud and sand. Four members of another expedition were injured, including one with a head injury. Bad weather prevented a helicopter evacuation, and the most seriously injured climber was later evacuated by stretcher by a rescue team arriving overland. The Trango Link-up concluded with three summits completed in nine consecutive days, an epic push.
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