Spantik

Spantik (Balti language), or Golden Peak, is a mountain situated in the subrange within the Karakoram range. It is located in the Hopar Valley, Nagar District, within the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The northwest face of Spantik / Golden peak is renowned for its exceptionally challenging climbing route, famously referred to as the "Golden Pillar."

Spantik is positioned to the east of Diran and northeast of Malubiting. There are various routes leading to Spantik, including paths from the Arandu village in the Shigar District, as well as routes originating from the Hoper valleys in the Nagar District.

Climbing
Spantik's first ascent took place in 1955, accomplished by a German expedition led by Karl Kramer. The most frequently chosen route for climbers follows the southeast ridge, a line that was originally attempted by the Bullock Workman party in 1906.

The southeast ridge presents a challenging ascent, spanning 2,700 meters over a lateral distance of 7.6 km. The terrain along this ridge is diverse, ranging from rocky outcrops to snow, ice, and scree. The incline along this route generally remains under 30 degrees, with a few sections reaching up to 40 degrees

The mountain is very popular with organised commercial expeditions, due to its relative ease of ascent and scarcity of objective dangers. The short 3-day approach trek across straightforward terrain also provides for easy access and gradual acclimatization. This peak was scaled by Aus-Pak expedition in July 2011, led by a team of mountaineers from Army High Altitude School Rattu. Lt Col Abdul Aziz was supervising the team of Climbers. The peak can be approached from Nagar Valley as well as from Baltistan side. The First expedition was held in 1988, the team composed of six Pakistan Army Personnel with German Team, The first Pakistani who reached the summit was Captain (now Brigadier) Muhammad Moiz Uddin Uppal. Another expedition named the China-Pakistan Friendship Expedition scaled Spantik Peak. Expedition leader Lt Col (retired) Dr Abdul Jabbar Bhatti, in a call from the summit, said that the expedition members took turns to reach the summit between 1:45pm and 2:15pm on Sunday July 15. Earlier, the summit team, which had started from Camp II (5, 600 meters) on July 14, set up Camp III (6,000 metres) the same day and pushed for the summit the following day. C III was established 300 meters lower than planned, which, combined with worsening weather conditions and lack of visibility during return from summit, resulted in missing the route, and it forced the whole team to spend the night outside the camp at a time when members were already exhausted. Digging out snow caves was the only option for protection from extreme environment.

Uzma Yousaf on August 2, 2017 scaled the 7,027 m Spantik peak. Uzma is the first Pakistani woman to climb Spantik as well as any peak above 7000 meters in Pakistan. She climbed Spantik Peak approaching from Chogholungma glacier above Arandu in Basha valley, Shigar district of Gilgit Baltistan. Uzma's high-altitude team included Wajid Ullah Nagri, Asghar Hussain and Yaseen. Uzma and her team reached at the top of Spantik at 9:16 am August 2, (Wednesday) 2017. The 43-year old, who started her climbing career by scaling 6050-metre Mingling Sar in October 2016 and 5098-metre Rush Peak in February 2017, said that it took her team 31 days to complete the voyage.

On 17-Jul-2019 a 10 year old Selena Khawaja Pakistani girl (resident of Abbottabad) reach the summit of the Spantik peak. By doing this she became the youngest person to scale Spantik and any peak over 7000 meters in the World.

In June 2024, two Japanese climbers went missing during their attempt to summit the peak in Alpine style. The body of one of the two missing Japanese climbers was found 300 meters below camp 3. A third Japanese climber, Hiroshi Onishi died less than a month later after falling into a crevasse.