Aleš Česen on a Still Unconquered Six-Thousander in the Karakoram

The Slovenian top alpinist Aleš Česen, in partnership with his Austrian climbing partner Lukas Wörle, made the first ascent at the end of July on the hitherto unclimbed mountain Cherireen Sar (6224 m) in the Karakoram. They reached the summit on July 29 after climbing a 2400-meter first ascent route called Chicken Hunt or Chicken Hunt on the western side of the mountain above the rarely visited Khurdopin Glacier in Pakistan. Precisely because of the remoteness, the recipient of two Golden Ice Axes rates this alpine expedition as a complete trip into the unknown and emphasizes that the essence of alpinism is adventure. The biggest challenge of the expedition to Pakistan, according to him, was finding an acceptable safe route and catching a short weather window.

Less than a year after climbing a first ascent route along the western ridge on Gasherbrum III (7952 m) with British alpinist Tom Livingstone, one of the most successful Slovenian alpinists Aleš Česen (Alpine Mountaineering Club) returned to the Karakoram again. In partnership with Austrian Lukas Wörle, they this time chose a much less known area southeast of Shimshal. They succeeded in the first ascent of the mountain Cherireen Sar (6224 m) above the rarely visited Khurdopin Glacier, specifically on the western side of the mountain, where they climbed a 2400-meter long route Chicken Hunt or Chicken Hunt, which they rated D on the French scale. "When we reached the base camp, we missed fresh chicken meat. On an acclimatization tour with Lukas in the camp area, we spotted quite a few mountain chickens and so we tried, more in jest than seriously, to catch some fresh meat. I think I don't need to explain that the hunt was quite far from successful," Česen explains with a laugh how they came up with the name of the first ascent route.

Their original plan was to climb the highest mountain above the Khurdopin Sar valley (6310 m), but they quickly abandoned the idea due to dangerous conditions both in the lower part of the mountain and large snow cornices in the upper part. They focused on the backup goal - also still unclimbed mountain Cherireen Sar, on the summit of which they stood on July 29, 2025. "After acclimatization up to 5000 meters, the weather turned and it rained almost every day. After a week, on July 27, with a fantastic weather forecast, we started from base camp towards the western ridge of Cherireen Sar. After less than two hours of walking, the wind from the south brought precipitation. After some waiting in the lee of a boulder, we decided to descend, but left most of the equipment in the rocks at about 4700 meters. We had no choice but to try the same the next day, even though it was still raining in the base camp in the morning. This time the weather held up somewhat and in occasional light rain we bivouacked among boulders on the ridge at just under 5000 meters. Around half past two in the morning we started into a cloudy night. At sunrise around 5400 meters, a small snowstorm caught us. Our optimism paid off about an hour later when it started to clear up and the weather remained fantastic for the entire remaining ascent. We climbed delicate rocky terrain with minor technical difficulties (up to IV) up to about 5500 meters. Above that height we reached snow and ice and the climbing conditions were more or less ideal. In the snow we climbed slopes up to 80 degrees. Although the climbing in an alpine sense was not very demanding, especially when climbing downward, complete concentration was needed, as the icy western slopes allowed no mistakes," Aleš Česen describes the ascent.

According to the recipient of two Golden Ice Axes and the most successful Slovenian alpinist in the years 2017, 2018, and 2024, the biggest challenge of this expedition was finding an acceptable safe route and catching a short weather window: "Although we regularly received professional weather forecasts, they were completely useless because the weather shaped clouds and precipitation in its own way. Similar problems were encountered by expeditions in the good hundred kilometers distant Baltoro. We were lucky that the mountain was 'only' a good 6000 meters high and we could afford attempts one after another and even just one day of good weather was enough, which you can't afford on peaks above 7000 meters."

The Slovenian-Austrian team consciously ventured into a very (alpinistically) unexplored area. They had very little information about the mountains there. "We got the most from satellite images, and when we first saw this group during the three-day approach, we couldn't even unambiguously identify which peak was which. That was also the main reason and motivation why we went there. A complete trip into the unknown," explains the alpinist from Gorenjska, who states that according to information from locals, above the Khurdopin Glacier, only one lower peak at the beginning of this chain has been climbed so far, and everything else was (still) untouched. What is the feeling of climbing somewhere where really no one has been before? "Excellent. The essence of alpinism is adventure. And although you still never really know what exactly awaits you the next meter, there is more and more information about various mountains and it is increasingly accessible in today's time. However, there are still unexplored areas from where it is impossible to get any useful pictorial material in advance. And we should go to such goals more often. Where you don't know well what you will find. We didn't even know where we would set up base camp.

The remoteness was also matched by their connection to the world, similar to all more remote places, as Česen says: "There is none, except impractical satellite connections, although this is changing drastically especially with Starlink, which is not yet available in Pakistan. Also, the possibilities for return, except of course by the reverse path as we approach the mountain, are very limited. There are rare helicopter rescues in the lower parts of those mountains, but compared to the system we have in the Alps, it's ridiculous. If we count helicopter responsiveness in minutes here, there in the best case days are counted. So you can't count on help from outside at all, although we always have all necessary insurances for rescue paid."

Because the 43-year-old from Kranj broke his ankle at the beginning of April, this year's expedition to the Karakoram - planned for May - was under a big question mark, but he successfully carried it out with a two-month delay. After two months on the couch and crutches, together with physiotherapist Primož Hostnik, they made enough progress that he gave him the green light for departure on the expedition in mid-July. Although there was a huge amount of terrain extremely unfriendly to such an injury, except for minor pains and swellings, the leg was completely functional and caused him no problems, Česen is satisfied.

Top alpinist and mountain guide Aleš Česen has been involved in climbing since childhood, later he was also attracted to alpinism. He was on his first major expedition in Kyrgyzstan (Tien Shan) in 2003. With his brother Nejc, in 2004 in Yosemite Park (USA) they climbed big walls: El Capitan and Half Dome. In 2005 he participated in an expedition to the Himalaya, to Kula Kangri (Tibet), then he was on expeditions in the Karakoram - Trango Towers (2006) and Charakusa (2008). In 2015 he received the Golden Ice Axe award for the first ascent in the north face of Hagshu (2014, 6657 m) in the Indian Himalaya with Luka Lindič and Marko Prezelj and with Lindič on an expedition to Alaska climbed three routes in big Alaskan walls. In 2016 with Lindič he ascended Broad Peak (8047 m) and the north summit of Gasherbrum IV (7900 m) in the Karakoram, the year 2017 he started in the Rocky Mountains in Canada, then in the Indian Himalaya with Urban Novak and Marko Prezelj climbed a first ascent route in the west face of Arjuna (6250 m). In 2018, Česen, Luka Stražar and Briton Tom Livingstone entered history with the first successful ascent of the Karakoram Latok 1 (7145 m) from the north side and received the Golden Ice Axe for the ascent. In 2019 he reached the summit of Ama Dablam (6812 m) in the Nepalese Himalaya along the southwest ridge. In 2022 with Tom Livingstone he made an attempt in a new route on the northwest side of Gasherbrum III (reached height: 7800 m), in 2024 they succeeded in climbing a 2000 vertical meter long first ascent route along the western ridge on Gasherbrum III (7952 m).