Masherbrum attempt by David Lama, Peter Ortner and Hansjörg Auer

Three of Austria's strongest alpinists – and, for that matter, three of the most talented alpinists in the world – are currently in Pakistan attempting what is considered by many to be one of the most fearsome unclimbed lines left on the planet, namely the immense NE Face of Masherbrum. The peak, located NE of Skardu in the Karakorum mountain range, is a staggering 7821m high and its daunting NE face starts at 5000m and finishes at almost 8000m. 3000 vertical meters of hitherto unclimbed rock and ice, located at an extreme altitude, described by Lama as "basically the north face of the Eiger with a Cerro Torre towering on top of it."

This brief description provides an idea about the magnitude of this project, but to grasp it fully it's important to step back in time and find out more about this mountain's -albeit short - climbing history. Masherbrum was first climbed in July 1960 by the Americans William Unsoeld, George Bell, Nicholas Clinch and Pakistan's Jawed Akhter via the SE Face. In 1981 a Polish expedition succeeded in placing 3 men on the slightly lower SW summit (7806m), but success came at a tragically high cost: Marek Malatynski and Przemyslaw Nowacki died during the descent while only Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich managed to return to BC alive. In 1983 Japan's Masahiro Nomura and Takeyasu Minamiura made the second ascent of Masherbrum's main summit via the 1960 American route, while two years later another Japanese team successfully climbed the North Ridge to make the mountain's third ascent. Just one day after the Japanese the fourth – and so far last ascent - ascent was made by the Austrians Andreas Orgler, Michael Larcher and Robert Renzler who reached the summit after having climbed the NW Face. Since then all other attempts to scale this peak have failed including, notably, the 2006 Russian expedition led by Himalayan veteran Alexander Odintsov to precisely the line Lama, Ortner and Auer wish to climb. No newcomers to the terrible extreme, the formidable Russians were forced to retreat due to unstable weather coupled with the face not being in condition.

In short, since 1985 the summit has remained unclimbed: almost 30 years of successful resistance that have added significantly to the - already awesome - reputation of this mountain.

Lama, Ortner and Auer know the mountain's history well and are conscious of the fact that the undertaking is huge to say the least: simply repeating the original line would be outstanding in its own right, climbing a new route up this inhospitable face in alpine style would be even more extraordinary. The young Austrians know therefore that chances of making significant headway up the face are extremely slim. "This project will certainly demand all of our collective alpinist experience as well as superb technical climbing skills." stated Ortner cooly. It is precisely for this reason that the trio have trained specifically with this in mind for months, years even, climbing difficult and dangerous routes in Alps together (such as the first winter ascent of the Sagwand) as well as ascending other cutting-edge objetives: the first free ascent of the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre in Patagonia by Lama and Ortner and the first ascent of Kunyang Chhish East by Auer (together with his brother and Simon Anthamatten) are just two of the most recent examples that spring to mind.

The trio arrived in the Karakoram in mid-May and acclimatised on Broad Peak, making several trips up to circa 7000m before moving on the Masherbrum BC. So far they have made one foray up the NE Face, reaching 5350m but then abseiling off due to unstable weather, and currently they are pinned down at BC due to heavy snowfall, waiting for better weather to come. It's superfluous to say how fundamental optimal conditions are for an eventual success.

Before leaving for Pakistan Auer told Planetmountain "Keep your fingers crossed. We will need all the luck we can get" while Lama stated "The first time I stood in front of Masherbrum, I knew I had found what I was looking for. A face so incredibly huge and difficult, you are tempted to believe it is impossible."