In 1987 I led an expedition to climb up, then ski back down, a holy mountain in the Chinese Pamirs called Mustagh Ata, which means "The Father of Ice Mountains." It is 24,757ft high. The Kirghiz who live at its base believe that after he died, Mohammed was carried to heaven on the backs of white camels that ascended the mountain like a stairway. They say that atop the mountain lies a vast city of eternal white called Janaidar, where the people live for ever and have no earthly faults or plagues. We decided to see if Janaidar was really there.