88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
BY TIM CRAIG June 29
The Pakistani flag waves as the sun sets on the world’s ninth-highest mountain, Nanga Parbat, in Fairy Meadows, Pakistan. Last year, 10 foreign climbers on an expedition to the mountain were murdered by Taliban gunmen, an event which has caused the number of international visitors to plummet. (Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post)
FAIRY MEADOWS, Pakistan — For more than five decades, locals have called it “Killer Mountain,” a reminder of the risks of trying to scale beautiful, snow-topped Nanga Parbat.
More than 100 climbers and porters have died on the steep, rocky ascent up the world’s ninth-highest mountain — a fact Pakistan once touted in a bid to lure thrill-seekers.
Now, however, local residents are frantically trying to scrub the word “killer” from a mountain that has become a symbol of the threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban.
One year ago this month, about a dozen heavily armed Pakistani Taliban militants executed 10 foreign mountain climbers, including a U.S. citizen, at the base of the mountain. It was one of the worst acts of violence to strike the international climbing community.
Terrorism is hardly unusual in Pakistan; at least 3,000 people died last year alone in the country in violence attributed to Islamist extremists. But theattack at Nanga Parbat was a major blow, horrifying citizens who view the majestic northern mountains as a source of national pride.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...6-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html?tid=sm_fb
long article
@alybaba you alright?
The Pakistani flag waves as the sun sets on the world’s ninth-highest mountain, Nanga Parbat, in Fairy Meadows, Pakistan. Last year, 10 foreign climbers on an expedition to the mountain were murdered by Taliban gunmen, an event which has caused the number of international visitors to plummet. (Max Becherer/Polaris Images for The Washington Post)
FAIRY MEADOWS, Pakistan — For more than five decades, locals have called it “Killer Mountain,” a reminder of the risks of trying to scale beautiful, snow-topped Nanga Parbat.
More than 100 climbers and porters have died on the steep, rocky ascent up the world’s ninth-highest mountain — a fact Pakistan once touted in a bid to lure thrill-seekers.
Now, however, local residents are frantically trying to scrub the word “killer” from a mountain that has become a symbol of the threat posed by the Pakistani Taliban.
One year ago this month, about a dozen heavily armed Pakistani Taliban militants executed 10 foreign mountain climbers, including a U.S. citizen, at the base of the mountain. It was one of the worst acts of violence to strike the international climbing community.
Terrorism is hardly unusual in Pakistan; at least 3,000 people died last year alone in the country in violence attributed to Islamist extremists. But theattack at Nanga Parbat was a major blow, horrifying citizens who view the majestic northern mountains as a source of national pride.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...6-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html?tid=sm_fb
long article
@alybaba you alright?
