Nanga Parbat climb. Numerous mountaineering deaths in the mid and early-20th century lent it the nickname "Killer Mountain.” Nanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Diamer District of Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan. Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range. Nanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions. To the south, Nanga Parbat has what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises above its base. To the
Günther Messner Günther Messner Günther Messner (18 May 1946 – 29 June 1970) was an Italian mountaineer from South Tyrol and the younger brother of Reinhold Messner. Günther climbed some of the most difficult routes in the Alps during the 1960s, and joined the Nanga Parbat-Expedition in 1970 just before the beginning of the expedition due to an opening within the team. Günther was a member of a 1970 expedition to Nanga Parbat led by . Herrligkoffer had already organized six expeditions to Nanga Parbat and was said to be obsessed with the mountain after his half-brother, climber Willy Merkl, along with