The Trango Towers () are a family of rock towers situated in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world, and every year a number of expeditions from all corners of the globe visit Karakoram to climb the difficult granite. They are located north of Baltoro Glacier, and are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, a sub-range of the Karakoram range. The highest point in the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower at , the east face of which features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop. Structure of the group All of the Trango Towers lie on a ridge, roughly northwest–southeast, between the Trango Glacier on the west and the Dunge Glacier on the east. Great Trango itself is a large massif, with four identifiable summits: Main (), South or Southwest (), East (), and West (). It is a complex combination of steep snow/ice gullies, steeper rock faces, and vertical to overhanging headwalls, topped by a snowy ridge system. Just northwest of Great Trango is the Trango Tower (), often called "Nameless Tower". This is a very large, pointed, rather symmetrical spire which juts out of the ridgeline. North of Trango Tower is a smaller rock spire known as "Trango Monk." To the north of this feature, the ridge becomes less rocky and loses the large granite walls that distinguish the Trango Towers group and make them so attractive to climbers; however the summits do get higher. These summits are not usually considered part of the Trango Towers group, though they share the Trango name. Trango II () lies northwest of the Monk, and the highest summit on the ridge, Trango Ri (), lies northwest of Trango II. Just southeast of Great Trango (really a part of its southeast ridge) is the Trango Pulpit (), whose walls present similar climbing challenges to those of Great Trango itself. Further, to the south is Trango Castle (), the last large peak along the ridge before the Baltoro Glacier. Climbing history Overall, the Trango Towers group has seen some of the most difficult and significant climbs ever accomplished, due to the combination of altitude, total height of the routes, and the steepness of the rock. All of the routes are highly technical climbs. Great Trango 1977 South Face. Great Trango was first climbed in 1977 by Galen