Huber's Team Claims First Ascent on Pakistan's Biacherahi

German climber Thomas Huber has detailed a summer expedition to Pakistan's Choktoi area with Spanish climbers Victor Sans and Miquel Mas. The trio established a new 600-meter route on the 5,700-meter Biacherahi Central peak, naming it Wild Soul. They claim a first ascent, a statement they made despite a 2002 report in the American Alpine Journal that suggests other teams climbed the peak earlier.

According to the report published on ExplorersWeb, the climb itself took four days, from August 1 to 4. The team established base camp at 4,400 meters in mid-July. After enduring several days of stormy weather, a five-day window allowed them to complete the route's 21 pitches. The difficulties on Wild Soul reached up to 7a A2+. The climbers have stated they will post more details on social media soon.

Clarifying the Record

The climbing team noted they found no traces of a previous ascent on the summit. However, after initial reports surfaced, readers pointed to an earlier account in the American Alpine Journal. That report described a 2001 ascent of the same peak by a Polish-Japanese team led by Voytek Kurtyka.

Huber moved to clarify the situation. He explained that the confusion stems from the multiple peaks and subpeaks within the Biacherahi group. "There is Biacherahi South, Biacherahi Central, and Biacherahi Tower…with Biacherahi Tower the highest of these granite towers, at around 5,900m," Huber wrote. He added that Biacherahi Central itself is a three-summit formation. The southernmost and lowest of these three summits was climbed in 1989 by Spanish climbers Jon Lazkano and Javier Mugarra, and later in 2001 by Kurtyka's team.

Regarding their own route, Huber said, "we found rappel anchors in the middle section of the wall, indicating a previous attempt." He was clear, however, stating that "on the upper headwall and on the summit, we found no signs of an earlier ascent."

A Formidable Playground

The Biacherahi Towers are situated next to the Latok group and near Baitha Brakk, known as The Ogre. Together, they form a massive rocky massif of vertical walls rising beside the Choktoi Glacier. The area's remoteness and the extreme difficulty of all potential routes mean few climbers venture there.

It has, however, been a regular destination for Thomas Huber for decades. He first climbed Latok II in 1997 with Conrad Anker, Toni Gutsch, and his brother Alexander Huber. He summited Latok IV in 1999, and the neighboring Ogre and Ogre III in 2001. He is also known for multiple determined attempts on the highly difficult north face of Latok I.

In 2025, Huber opened a new route on the northern rocky tower of Suma Brakk in the same area with Americans Jon Griffin and Tad McCrea. For this latest ascent, his partner Miquel Mas was already familiar with the terrain, having opened a new route on the southwest face of nearby Latok II with Marc Subirana in 2023.