The Cathedral

The mountain

The Cathedral is a pair of black towers — 4,550 metres of rock and blue ice in the Karakoram. Fewer than a hundred climbers have stood on top.

The standard route

approach   4 days, glacier camp at 5,300 m
route      SW pillar, grade V, 1,400 m
crux       the ice traverse, 80° blue ice
descent     long, committing, one bivouac

When to go

June to August, and only with a permit and a very fit team. This is the hardest objective in the atlas.