In 1957, an Austrian expedition came to Pakistan
to climb this peak. It was led by Marcus Schmuck. Other important members
of the party were Fritz Wintersteller, a climber, Kurt Diemberger, an Austrian
climber and photographer and a legendary mountaineer, and Hermann Buhl,
who is considered as one of the best known postwar Austrian climbers. The
expedition began a reconnaissance of a ridge on the western face of the
mountain. Consequently it climbed a snow gully and camped at 5,791m/19,000ft.
While climbing, it made the best use of ropes which were fixed by the 1954
German expedition. On the 29th May, all members of the expedition left
camp-3 for an assault on the summit. A storm forced them to return to the
base camp. It was, however, on the 9th June, 1957 that Marcus Schmuck,
Fritz Wintersteller, Kurt Diemberger and Hermann Buhl climbed the peak
without using oxygen and high altitude porters.
It was after this climb that Schmuck and Wintersteller
climbed an un-named peak (7,360m/24,147ft). In ten hours they crossed ten
miles of the Godwin-Austen and Savoia glaciers and climbed up a snow slope
on skis to camp at about 6,096m/20,000ft. On the 19th of June, they ascended
in twelve hours to 1,219m/4,000ft on the south-west face of the summit,
first on hard snow and then in deep powder. They were back at base camp
just 52 hours after their departure. What an extraordinary feat of self-discipline,
endurance and sheer determination! The un-named peak so climbed is probably
the Skill Brum peak of Jerziwala Polish maps. The other two climbers, Diemberger
and Buhl, headed towards Chogolisa peak where Buhl met his death by falling
from the mountain.
The name of other peak in the Broad range is
Broad peak middle/central Some maps show its height at 8,016m while the
others show it 8,000m. It is stated to have been climbed in 1975. Anyhow,
it was in 1976 that a French expedition led by Yan nick Seigneur made an
attempt on this peak in alpine style, along with main Broad peak. This
party of four followed the Austrian first-ascent route and made four attempts
but could go only upto 7,925m/26,000ft. The expedition had to come back
because of bad weather. A six member Spanish mountaineering expedition
climbed Broad (central) peak in 1987. Their leader was Joseph Estruch.
The third peak in the Broad range is Broad peak North. Again some maps show its height as 7,538m while the others show it 7,550m. An Italian expedition, which was led by Renato Casarotto, attempted to climb it in 1982 but was unsuccessful. The party shows its height as 7,600m/24,935ft. Casarotto, however, succeeded in climbing it in 1983.