Nun Kun

Nun Kun is the roof of the Zanskar range, a twin-peaked massif whose higher summit, Nun, reaches 7,135 metres — the loftiest mountain in the Indian Himalaya west of the Sutlej. Rising between the Suru valley and Zanskar in Ladakh, it is a classic high-altitude expedition objective.

Climbing the massif is serious glacial mountaineering, with long snow and ice slopes, crevassed plateaus and mixed rock-and-ice sections leading to Nun, Kun and the shapely satellite point of Pinnacle Peak. Routes sit in the demanding expedition alpine range, requiring fixed camps, roped glacier travel and strong acclimatisation to 7,000 metres; the metamorphic rock bands add technical interest on some lines. This is committing terrain for experienced expedition climbers.

The season is the short Ladakhi summer, roughly July to September, when the Suru valley is accessible and high-pressure spells firm the snow; outside this the approach roads close and conditions turn extreme.

Access is unusually convenient for a 7,000-metre peak, with the Kargil–Zanskar road passing close to the base of the massif, from where teams trek onto the glaciers. Permits and full expedition logistics are required.

First climbed in 1953 by a Franco-Swiss team that included the pioneering alpinist Claude Kogan, Nun has since become a sought-after introduction to Himalayan seven-thousanders. The relatively direct approach, combined with genuine high-altitude challenge, keeps it popular with expedition climbers, all set amid the stark beauty of the Suru valley and its mixed Buddhist and Muslim villages beneath the great ice pyramids.