Gasherbrum II. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan and Xinjiang, China; the mountain was first climbed on July 7, 1956, by an Austrian expedition which included Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch, Hans Willenpart. Gasherbrum II is located on the border of Gilgit–Baltistan and Xinjiang, China, it is part of the Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas, located at the top of the Baltoro Glacier. With an elevation of 8,035 metres it is the third-highest member of the Gasherbrum group, behind Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak. Gasherbrum III is sometimes considered to be a subpeak of Gasherbrum II, because the former has a topographic prominence of only 461 metres. In 1856, Thomas George Montgomerie, a member of the British Royal Engineers and part of the Great Trigonometric Survey, sighted the mountain and named it "K4", meaning the fourth mountain of Karakoram; the name "Gasherbrum" comes from brum. The mountains of the Gasherbrum group were explored in 1909 by the Duke of the Abruzzi and Vittorio Sella.
The Abruzzi Glacier, a tributary of the Baltoro Glacier, is named after the Duke. In 1934, Günter Dyhrenfurth and his International Himalayan Expedition, including André Roch, explored Gasherbrum I and II, making it 6,250 metres up Gasherbrum II; the first ascent came on July 7, 1956, by Austrians Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart by the Southwest Ridge. After they set up Camp I, they had to descend, found the camp—and all their supplies and food—buried by an avalanche when they returned. Despite this, they decided to make a quick summit attempt. After opening up a route, they left Camp III on July 6; the group reached the top at 11:30 am the next day. In 1975, four expeditions climbed Gasherbrum II, including Jean-Pierre Fresafond's French expedition, a Polish group under Janusz Onyszkiewicz, another Polish expedition led by Wanda Rutkiewicz. Four years a Chilean group claimed to have used the "normal" route to reach the top. Several others, including Reinhard Karl, Hanns Schell, Kurt Diemberger reached the summit.
On July 24, 1982, Reinhold Messner, along with Nazir Sabir and Sher Khan, climbed the peak via the Southwest Ridge. During the ascent, Messner discovered the body of a missing Austrian mountaineer, whom he buried two years at the G I – G II crossing. During that year, Messner climbed two other eight-thousanders and Broad Peak, attempted Cho Oyu, he wrote 3 x 8000: My Great Year in the Himalaya, about this. In July 1984, Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander reached both Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I without returning to base camp, in alpine style. In August 1984, a French expedition led by Daniel Croisot, reached summit and achieved the integral first descent by ski of Gasherbrum II, as witnessed and joined by Dominique Dock, medical officer for the expedition. In August 1986, Gasherbrum II was ascended by a Slovene expedition in only 32 hours from the base to the peak, with only 22 hours of climbing and 10 hours of rest at the altitude of 5900 m; this was by far the fastest ascent until then.
In July 1996, Jean-Christophe Lafaille climbed Gasherbrum I and II in four days, without stopping at Base Camp in between. In 1997 Anatoli Boukreev achieved a solo speed ascent, camp ABC to summit in 9 hours 30 min. In 2006, Sebastian Haag and Benedikt Böhm climbed Gasherbrum II twice within a week. At 8:00 am on July 29, they reached the top and skied down without abseiling or removing their skis, they rested for a few days before leaving Camp I again on August 3. They started out fast, reaching Camp IV in six hours, but 50 centimetres of fresh snow slowed them down, they reached the summit after over six hours of tough climbing, they descended on skis again, this time made more dangerous by packed-down snow and the risk of avalanche. Despite this, they both made it safely back to Camp I in under 17 hours, whereas a normal expedition takes four to seven days. Karl Unterkircher and Daniele Bernasconi, two Italians, climbed Gasherbrum II in 2007 in alpine style, they were the first to use the North Face through China.
The route had been attempted a year earlier by a German–Swiss team, but they abandoned it after an avalanche. During the attempt they fixed around 1,200 metres of rope, they arrived at the summit after spending the night in a bivouac shelter. A third member, Michele Compagnoni, grandson of Achille Compagnoni, turned back just 150 metres before the summit; the team descended down the normal, northwest route. On February 2, 2011, Cory Richards, Denis Urubko, Simone Moro became the first to ascend Gasherbrum II in winter. Despite being buried by a class-four avalanche, they reached the summit at 11:30 am, without supplemental oxygen or porters. Richards, the first American to climb an eight-thousander in winter, filmed the expedition, which he turned into the film Cold. On July 16, 2018, Felix Berg and Adam Bielecki summited Gasherbrum II making what is arguably the first ascent of the true West Face. Eight-thousander List of mountains in China List of mountains in Pakistan List of highest mountains Dyhrenfurth, G. O..
To the Third Pole. London. ISBN 978-1-44
Priddy Mineries is a nature reserve run by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. It is on the Mendip Hills in Somerset; the reserve lies 1.5 miles east of the village of Priddy. It is part of the Priddy Pools Site of Special Scientific Interest, it is grassland / heather mosaic with an area of valley mire and some nutrient-poor pools. The site is one of the beauty spots of Mendip due to these pools with the changing colours of the vegetation and the pines and the heather slopes, it is adjacent to Stock Hill woodland, one of the paths form part of the long distance national footpath, the Monarch's Way. There are wide range of plant and small animal species. More than 20 species of dragonflies have been recorded, most of them breeding on site. In particular this is the only site in the Mendips for the Downy Emerald. There are numerous species of water bug including Water stick-insect and all British species of amphibian, except for the Natterjack Toad, in good breeding numbers; the site was worked for lead for many centuries 2000 years until 1908, the earlier workings were obliterated by those of the Victorians which left a legacy of pools and spoil heaps.
The buddle pits and condensation flues are the remains of the Waldegrave lead works of that time. The site is of great interest to industrial archaeologists and to cavers on account of the existence of Waldegrave swallet and the possible rediscovery of Five Buddles Sink or Thomas Bushell’s Swallet. A barrow or Tumulus can be found in the northern part of the Reserve
The Majura District is a district of Canberra, with a population of 171 at the 2016 census. It includes some farming but little residential development; the Majura District is situated in the northeast corner of the ACT, to the east of the North Canberra district, Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura, north of the Molonglo River, west of Sutton Road and south of the New South Wales border. It is located in the Majura Valley, drained by Woolshed Creek. Majura is covered by the Majura Field Firing Range, open grazing country and Canberra Airport. Majura Parkway, opened on 22 April 2016, Majura Road run through it from the north to the south. Majura District is not zoned for residential development because of the nearby airport, its only significant settlement is Pialligo, which lies on its southern edge and is semi-rural in character. The Majura Park Gun Club and Australian Federal Police driver training facilities are located on the northern part of Majura Road and a forensic facility is being built.
The Majura Vineyard includes the Mount Majura Solar Farm. The Majura Park Shopping Centre is on airport land at the southern end of Majura Road. A large IKEA store opened on non-airport land opposite the Airport on Majura Road on 16 November 2015; the Royal Military College and the Australian Defence Force Academy lie to the south of Fairbairn Avenue on the edge of the Majura district. In 2011, the Majura district contains 14 rural holdings in a thin strip along Majura Road between the nature reserves to the west and the defence, Airport and AFP land to the east, it was observed that "no-one in the Valley is a farmer, as they don’t receive their main income from farming." However, since 2011 properties such as Majura House have begun engaging with the community through sustainable paddock to plate farming including free range eggs, spring lamb, corn. The company was known as Majura Valley Free Range Eggs has become a recognised and respected brand within the Capital and surrounds and an important preserver of farming within the region.
The Mount Majura Solar Farm is built on part of the Majura Vineyard, cut off by the Majura Parkway project. It has a rated output of 2.3 megawatts and was opened on 6 October 2016. The Majura Valley was used by the Ngunnawal people before settlement by Britons in the mid-1820s and 1830s. Settlements were scarce, recent surveys show that this was a transitory camping area during nomadic journeys between Lake George and the upper Yass River catchments. A Scotsman, Robert Campbell settled the area, having been granted land in 1825, his compensation grant was 4,000 acres of land and 710 sheep, after Campbell's ship the "Sydney" was lost off the coast of India while chartered to the New South Wales government. Campbell named his property Majura after "Majura in India", according to the ACT National Trust. In 1825 James Ainslie by assignment of Campbell started a sheep station in the area which today is Canberra. Campbell named the property Duntroon; the origin of this name was Duntrune Castle at Bute in Scotland.
The house was acquired for the establishment of the Royal Military College and became its mess. Campbell was assigned convict labourers, but sought to bring free settlers as farm workers; these people were settled on small holdings of around 2 acres. Such a holding appears to be "Majura House", reputed to have been built for Alfred Mayo and his family between 1846 and 1860, the house remaining in family ownership until 1981. By the mid-1850s there were 50 people residing in the Majura Valley. Following land reforms in 1861, other families sought free selection of Crown Land in the Majura Valley in the 1860s and by the late 1800s had established what was a proto-village with school, community hall and Post Office, near the "Avonley" property. By 1891 there were housing 393 people within the Majura Valley. A major land holder was the Harman family. Creation of the Federal Capital Territory in 1912 ended freehold title, with the land becoming Commonwealth lands that were leased to former occupiers.
The Majura District was designated by the Districts Act of 1966 as one of the 18 districts of the Australian Capital Territory