Context:
One soldier died and three are missing after a group of Indian Army mountaineers was recently caught in an avalanche on Mount Kun in Ladakh.
Relevance:
GS Facts for Prelims
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Mount Kun
- Key Facts about Zanskar Range
About Mount Kun:
- Mount Kun is the second-highest peak of the Nun Kun massif, standing at an elevation of 7077 meters.
- It is located near Sankoo in the Suru valley, Kargil district, Ladakh.
- The Nun Kun massif consists of twin peaks, Nun (7135 meters) and Kun, separated by a 4-kilometer snow plateau.
- These peaks are among the highest in the Zanskar Range on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
- Along with their satellites Barmal, White Needle, and Pinnacle Peak, they form a horseshoe above the Suru River on the border of Kashmir and Zanskar.
Mountaineering:
- The first person to climb Mount Kun was Italian mountaineer Mario Piacenza in 1913.
- It took 58 years for an Indian Army Expedition to successfully climb the mountain again.
- Climbing Mount Kun is technically challenging and requires extensive knowledge of mountaineering techniques such as ice axes, roping up procedures, crampons, and jumar climbing.
Key Facts about Zanskar Range:
- The Zanskar Range is situated in the Ladakh region of northern India.
- It runs parallel to the Great Himalayan Range to the south.
- The range stretches for approximately 400 kilometers from the western end of Himachal Pradesh to the eastern border of Ladakh with Tibet.
- It separates Ladakh from the valleys of Kashmir and the Chenab River to the south and Kinnaur from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh to the north.
- The range has an average height of about 6,000 meters and includes the highest peak, Kamet, at 7,756 meters.
- Important passes in the range include Zojila, Shipki, Lipu Lekh (Lipulieke), and Mana.
- Several rivers originating in the range flow northward and join the Indus River, including the Shingo River, Zanskar River, Hanle River, Suru River, and Khurna River.
-Source: The Hindu
