All activities / Mountaineering / Summits / Concordia
Mountaineering / Summits in Concordia
The junction of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers at around 4,600 metres in the central Karakoram, ringed by more of the world's highest peaks than anywhere on earth. From this glacial amphitheatre, called the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods, four 8,000-metre peaks stand in view, K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I and II, along with the Trango Towers and Masherbrum. It is the goal of the K2 base camp trek, reached on foot from the roadhead at Askole in the Shigar district.
Why here
Concordia is the staging point for the greatest concentration of 8,000-metre peaks on earth, and the reason serious mountaineers come to the Karakoram. Four of the world's fourteen highest mountains ring the Baltoro here: K2 at 8,611 metres, the second highest and by consensus the hardest of them all, Broad Peak at 8,051 metres, and Gasherbrum I and II at 8,080 and 8,035 metres. K2 base camp sits at the foot of the Godwin-Austen glacier, with the Abruzzi Spur rising straight above it. Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums are the usual first Karakoram 8,000ers, less technical than K2 but still fully committing, with base camps on the same glacier system. Expeditions run in a short summer window, supported by Balti high-altitude porters, and the whole arena sits days of glacier travel beyond the last road at Askole. This is expedition mountaineering at its most serious, with no guaranteed rescue and weather that has made K2 one of the deadliest peaks in the sport.
Best months
The Karakoram climbing season is June to August, with summit windows usually in July. Conditions are severe and fast-changing, colder and more storm-prone than the Nepal Himalaya at the same altitude, and K2 in particular is known for sudden weather and objective hazard on the Abruzzi and at the Bottleneck serac. Base camps sit on moving glacier between 4,900 and 5,300 metres. Long acclimatisation, fixed rope and a patient weather-watching game are the norm, and turnaround discipline matters more here than almost anywhere.
Getting there & around
Expeditions stage from Skardu and drive to Askole, then take six to eight days of glacier trekking with porters to reach base camp on the Godwin-Austen or Baltoro glacier. A full K2, Broad Peak or Gasherbrum climb runs six to eight weeks with acclimatisation rotations, and needs a climbing permit and liaison officer arranged through a licensed Pakistani operator, plus high-altitude porters, oxygen for K2 and a base-camp cook team. Everything is portered in from Askole. Helicopter rescue exists but is weather and clearance dependent, so self-reliance is the rule.
Skill levels: advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Blue Sky Treks & Tours
OutfitterBlue Sky Treks & Tours has organised Karakoram expeditions since 1975 and is a fully locally owned company based in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan. Its guides and porters are native to the region, and it runs supported climbs on K2, Nanga Parbat and other 8,000-metre peaks alongside the K2 Base Camp trek and Gasherbrum II expeditions. The Tourism Department of Gilgit-Baltistan awarded it a certificate of appreciation for responsible tourism, and it operates its own trips rather than reselling.
Nazir Sabir Expeditions
OutfitterNazir Sabir Expeditions is the company of Nazir Sabir, the first Pakistani to summit K2, which he climbed by the west ridge in 1981, and later the first Pakistani to stand on Everest, in 2000. Holding government license number 711, the outfit runs full expeditions to K2, Broad Peak, the Gasherbrums and Nanga Parbat as well as Concordia and Gondogoro La treks, using its own Balti and Hunza high-altitude staff. It has organised Karakoram climbs for decades from its base near Islamabad.