Meru Peak is a mountain located in the Garhwal Himalayas, in the state of Uttarakhand in India. The peak lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and has some highly challenging routes. The name Meru likely originated from the Sanskrit word for "peak". The mountain was formerly the site of the world's highest BASE jump from a location on the surface of the Earth by Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan, from a height of , in June 2006, a record which has since been surpassed by Valery Rozov's 2013 jump from the North Face of Mount Everest. The mountain has three distinct peaks: southern (), central (), and northern (). The two higher peaks were climbed earlier than the harder central peak, which was first climbed in a 2001 solo ascent by Valery Babanov, twice by other teams in 2006, and for the first time along the "Shark's Fin" route in 2011. Shark's Fin route This 1400m route to Meru Central follows North East Pillar, over the "Shark's Fin", a massive granite feature on the northeast face variously described as a "prow", "blade" or "nose". Its exceptional difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that its most technical rock climbing is near the top, meaning that heavy gear needs to be carried almost all the way. It had been described as "one of the most attempted and most coveted lines in the entire Himalaya" and "one of the last remaining challenges of big wall mountaineering." The route begins after a two-day approach, a 700m snow slope and a rock ramp. Next, is a steep, overhanging wall nicknamed the "Indian Ocean Wall" climbed with aid techniques up to A4 difficulty. This is followed by the "Crystal Pitch", an overhanging and exposed section of aid climbing. The last section combines mixed and aid climbing. Attempts American Mugs Stump attempted the route in 1986, thwarted by an avalanche on the lower slopes. In 1988 he tried and failed again, defeated by a lengthy snow storm. A serious attempt was made by the primarily British team of Paul Pritchard, Johnny Dawes, Noel Craine, Dave Kendall and Philip Lloyd in 1993. This failure included Dawes losing a boot, and later having a major fall. Further unsuccessful attempts followed in the 1990s included Scott Backes. In 1997, Nick Bullock, Jules Cartwright and Jamie Fisher achieved a height of 6,100m. Pete Takeda and Dave Sheldon made three attempts, in