Tirich Mir

Tirich Mir, 7,708 m, is the roof of the Hindu Kush — the highest mountain anywhere outside the Himalaya–Karakoram, and so prominent that it dominates the skyline of Chitral town, where it can be seen from the main bazaar. The peak is a mid-Cretaceous granite body, and its north side encloses the Tirich Glacier together with two other 7,000-metre peaks, Noshaq and Istor-o-Nal. The name joins the valley name Tirich with mir, "mountain" in Khowar; some scholars have gone further and linked it with the mythical Mount Meru.

The local stories are part of the place. For the Kalash of the nearby valleys the mountain belongs to the goddess Krumai, who takes the form of a wild goat; Chitrali tradition holds that it is a fortress of fairies who punish anyone climbing it with death. Climbers disproved that in July 1950, when a Norwegian–British party including the philosopher Arne Næss, Per Kvernberg, Henry Berg and Tony Streather reached the top by the south ridge from the South Barum glacier. A Czechoslovak expedition opened the route now considered normal, over the Upper Tirich Glacier and the northwest ridge, in 1967. In 2023 the Japanese climbers Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima climbed the 2,200-m north face — an ascent honoured with a Piolet d'Or in 2025, awarded posthumously after both died on K2 in 2024.

What an ordinary traveller gets is the view: from Chitral town and the roads of the valley the white bulk of Tirich Mir hangs over the green fields and the old princely capital. Trekkers go up the Tirich valley, where a jeep track leads to Shagrom, the highest permanent village, with summer pastures and shepherds' huts beyond and the snout of the lower Tirich glacier above them.

Getting there

Chitral town is about 44 km from the summit by straight line; Chitral Airport (CJL) is about 40 km away. The Tirich valley trek starts from the Torkhow valley north-east of Chitral, where a jeep track branches up to Shagrom.