On Harmukh, a Kashmiri mountaineer seeks summits few have attempted
Srinagar, Jul 27: For seven days, Wasim Hassan Rather climbed across the ridgelines of Harmukh, one of Kashmir’s most mountainous massifs, moving from one unnamed or little-documented summit to another. When he descended, he believed he had become the first person to complete a traverse of four subsidiary peaks in a single expedition.
There was no official ceremony waiting at the base, no international expedition sponsor, and no satellite broadcast marking the achievement. Instead, the significance of the climb spread quietly through Kashmir’s close-knit mountaineering community, where veteran climbers began comparing routes, maps and memories to determine whether anyone had done it before.
For Hassan, a ski guide from north Kashmir who has spent more than a decade working in the mountains, the expedition represents something larger than a personal milestone.
“People see Kashmir for its meadows and lakes,” he said. “Very few know what lies higher up.”
For decades, Kashmir’s mountains attracted European explorers and surveyors. Later, years of conflict shifted attention away from adventure sports. Today, a new generation of local climbers is returning to peaks that have received little modern attention, often funding expeditions from their own savings.
Hassan’s journey into mountaineering began with weekend hikes before formal training in alpine techniques. Since then, he has completed more than 20 expeditions, including several climbs above 6,000 meters.
The expedition also revealed how little is settled about some of Kashmir’s mountains. One summit long described as standing at 5,142 meters now appears in newer mapping at roughly 5,120 meters, reflecting updated surveying rather than a shrinking mountain.
Adventure tourism has become an increasingly important part of Kashmir’s economy, but mountaineers say technical climbing remains overshadowed by trekking and skiing.
“There is enormous potential here,” Hassan said. “But people need training before they think about climbing these mountains.”
Whether his Harmukh traverse is ultimately recognised as a first ascent will depend on documentation and scrutiny by the climbing community. Even so, mountaineers say the expedition signals something more enduring, that Kashmir’s highest mountains, long overshadowed by politics and tourism, are once again becoming places of exploration.
