Not counting the two Pumari Chhish summits 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the ENE, the Kunyang Chhish massif has five peaks: The first attempt to climb Khunyang Chhish was made in 1962 but the climb was aborted after an avalanche on 18 July killed two climbers, Major James Mills and Captain M. R. F. Jones, at about 20,000 feet (6,100 m) on the south ridge.

They climbed a more direct, but nonetheless lengthy, route up the South Ridge of the peak from the Pumari Chhish Glacier.

[3] The second, and only other recorded ascent, was by two British climbers, Mark Lowe and Keith Milne, who climbed the Northwest Spur to the North Ridge and completed this route on July 11, 1988.

With just six known ascents and at least five confirmed deaths during attempts, the mountain has one of the steepest fatality rates in the Karakoram.

After four failed expeditions, starting in 2003, the East Summit was first ascended in July 2013 by an Austrian/Swiss team over the South Wall.

A Japanese expedition from Hokkaido University in 1979 was led by Kohei Echizenya climbed the north ridge of Kunyang Chhish (23,321 feet) to make the first ascent.