Meru Peak

Meru is home to the Shark's Fin, one of the most storied big-wall objectives in the Himalaya. Rising to 6,660 metres in the Gangotri group of Uttarakhand's Garhwal, its central summit is guarded by a soaring blade of granite that repelled elite teams for years before a celebrated ascent in 2011.

The climbing is extreme mixed and big-wall terrain, combining steep alpine ice, hard granite crack and slab, and sustained aid at high altitude. The Shark's Fin demands the full range of skills — free climbing, aid, ice and portaledge living — and sits at the very top of the difficulty spectrum; other lines on the massif are serious alpine routes in their own right. This is a destination for expert alpinists only.

The window is the post-monsoon autumn, chiefly September to October, when settled cold weather firms the ice and clears the rock; the monsoon and deep winter are unworkable.

Approach runs from Gangotri up the Gangotri glacier toward the meadows of Tapovan, a trek that itself demands acclimatisation and permits. The surrounding amphitheatre of Shivling, Bhagirathi and Thalay Sagar makes the base one of the great mountain arenas of the range.

The 2011 Shark's Fin ascent by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk was later told in the acclaimed film Meru, bringing wide attention to a wall that had turned back many strong parties, including their own earlier attempt. Meru's blend of technical rock, altitude and commitment has made it a benchmark of modern Himalayan hard climbing, admired far beyond the small circle able to attempt it.