Industry News
Skier Yannick Boissenot and snowboarder Julien Herry from France climbed and skied/rode the 16,568-foot-high Chota Dumani for the first time ever. The two Frenchmen ascended the peak in Pakistan on May 5. The Chota Dumani mountain is located near the famous Rakaposhi peak, which at 25,551 feet (7,788 meters) is the steepest peak in the world.
The pair came to Pakistan with the goal of visiting a rarely explored valley near the Chinese border, but they were turned around. Unstable snow and problems while acclimatizing led to their decision to start an expedition from the Rakaposhi Basecamp to the relatively low peak.
There, they made the decision to summit the pyramid-shaped peak. They left the base camp at 1 a.m. and reached the base of the mountain four hours later. There, the duo started ascending the main couloir to the summit, which they reached at 9 a.m. The two mountaineers descended shortly after.
Julien “Pica” Herry described the descent in a post on Instagram: “Snow conditions are great in the end, powdery on the skier’s right side of the main couloir, softened by the sun on the other side. Snow stability on the powdery side is also better than expected, and we can finally enjoy some great turns!”
The first ascenders named the mountain ‘Chota Dumani’ after careful reflection with the locals. The name means “Little Rakaposhi,” referring to the mountain above Chota Dumani.
Rakaposhi’s summit lies almost 20,000 feet above the floor of the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan. The 12-mile-wide north face is one of the biggest in the world.
