Pakistan climbing season touches new heights

Pakistan climbing season touches new heights

Courtesy by Google

SKARDU: Pakistan is taking part in a bumper mountaineering season with around 1400 overseas mountaineers bidding to scale its lofty peaks -- including hundreds at the 8,611-metre K2, the sector’s 2nd-maximum.

“it's far a report wide variety,” Raja Nasir Ali Khan, tourism minister of the Gilgit-Baltistan vicinity, stated. The country is home to 5 of the world's 14 mountains higher than eight,000 meters, and mountaineering is considered the ultimate achievement of any mountaineer.

Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine membership of Pakistan, said there have been 57 expeditions planned for 23 Pakistan peaks this season — with 370 climbers having a crack at K2, known as “the savage mountain”.

Except being extra technically difficult to climb than Everest, weather conditions are notoriously fickle on K2, which has only been scaled with the aid of 425 humans when you consider 1954. More than 6,000 humans have climbed Everest considering Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached the pinnacle in 1953 -- some of them more than one time.

Haidri stated climbers this 12 months encompass 90 ladies -- which includes at least Pakistanis aiming to end up the country's first to scale K2. Russian Oxana Morneva is main a crew on the mountain, having failed in her attempt in 2012 when she became pressured in her lower back after injuring her knee. "My rope was damaged by way of falling rocks," she informed AFP.

Courtesy by Google

She said she had no apprehension approximately returning. "whilst we go to the mountain we have to be nonviolent inner, and we ought to realize what we are doing," she delivered. Round two hundred climbers will attempt to scale the eight, 051-meter broad height, at the same time as comparable numbers will try Gasherbrum-I (8,080 meters) and Gasherbrum-II (eight,1/2 meters).

A 36-12 months-vintage Norwegian climber, Kristin Harila, is likewise aiming to reach the world's 14 maximum mountain summits in document time. Having already climbed seven peaks of over eight,000 meters, Harila hopes to healthy, if now not beat, Nepali adventurer Nirmal Purja's six months and six days report.

Do you know the best ski resorts in Pakistan?