Gilgit-Baltistan: The Paradise of Mountaineers

Gilgit-Baltistan: The Paradise of Mountaineers is proud to have the second-highest K-2 Mountain in the world (28,250 ft). It challenged all attempts at its conquest but was eventually brought to its knee by the Italian Team on 31-7-1954. On 31 July 1954, the Italian Karakoram expedition finally succeeded in climbing to the K2 summit via the Abruzzi Spur.

Ardito Desio led the expedition, and Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni were the two climbers who had reached the summit. The team included a participant of Pakistan, Colonel Muhammad Ata-Allah, who was a part of the American expedition in 1953. Walter Bonatti and Pakistani Hunza porter Amir Mehdi were also on the expedition, both of whom proved vital to the success of the expedition in carrying oxygen tanks up to 8,100 meters (26,600 ft) for Lacedelli and Compagnoni.

Baltistan is truly a paradise for mountaineers, as it has more than 20 peaks of more than 20,000 feet. Other well-known peaks in Khaplu Valley are Masherbrum popularly known as K-1, Wide Peak, Hidden Peak, Gasherbrum II, Gasherbrum IV and Chogolisa.

List of some conquered peaks by various expeditions: The full list of those scaled mountains will be uploaded soon.

Baltistan is the land of huge glaciers too. Here one finds the world’s largest glaciers outside the Polar region. Baltoro glacier is a huge glacier at the head of the Braldu valley, estimated to be 36 miles long and one to two and a half kilometers wide. It is one of the longest traverses that stretch east and west outside of the Polar Region.

Biafo Glacier is another vast glacier in an almost perfectly straight line which is estimated to be 54 miles long. Together, the Biafo-Hispar glaciers form a 76-mile path that is the longest glacier crossing outside the Arctic.

In 1892, Biafo glacier was first visited by Sir Martin Conway, who approached it via the gorge of Hunza and the glacier Hispar. Seen from the Hispar pass the great ice basin forming the upper part of the Biafo gave the impression that the outflow was not immediately apparent as a fully enclosed “Lake.”

Therefore Conway named it the “Snow Lake” a misnomer which still persists. Biafo flows from the Snow Lake south-east towards the Baldur Valley, its snout, moraine covered, still reaching into the valley in 1956 Biafo-Hispar has a panorama of superlative grandeur of one of the world’s most magnificent landscapes, described by Martin Conway as the wonder of the earth, ‘the memory of which clings while life lasts.’

Siachen glacier in the eastern Karakoram between Siachen Muztagh and Saltoro range-latitude is 46 miles long: lengths from 3,5.11 to 35,44 N: 76.40 to 77.013 E. It flows out into Nubra River, a small Shyok River tributary.

Rimo glacier is located in east Karakoram and drains into the Shyok River, an important Indus tributary. Godwin Austen glacier is situated in the eastern Karakoram, north of Baltoro, leading to the world’s second-highest K-2 point, northward.

Broad peak (23,000 feet), between Mount Gasherbrum and the 28,200 feet high, great ‘K-2.’ In 1902, Eckenstein reconnoited K-2 and camped for over a month on its glacier at 19,000 feet. For K-2 he gave the name Chigoro. There is no hope for any climbing K-2 mountaineers that are too steep and icy.’

Baltistan has beautiful scenic beauty to it. Shigar valley is one of the rare places of beauty. It is approximately 25 miles long and 3 miles wide with agriculture on both sides of the Shigar River. The river Shigar is formed by a confluence of the rivers Basho and Braldu.

It has a length of about 24 miles from the confluence, and flows across from Skardu into the river Indus. Apricots orchards extend for miles and miles and the sight is magnificent when the leaves change colors in the fall. Mr Fasco Maraini, who visited Baltistan in 1954, was delighted and described this region in the following words:

“Shigar is not only a scarce place of beauty. It is of interest to the traveler on various grounds. The oasis is probably the wealthiest and best looked after in all of Baltistan. It has a population of about 20,000. Village succeeds each village lost in the thickest clusters of trees you can imagine.

The Khaplu valley is also a gorgeous place and worth a visit. In a radius of around two square miles Khaplu is spread out. It is a mass of orchard made up of apricot treetop lakes. The Shyok River flows through the entire length of the Khaplu Valley, and joins the Kiris Valley Indus River. From Chulunka to Kiris the river is about 91 miles long.

There are a number of beautiful lakes in the united Saltoro-Kundas and Hushey rivers joining the Shyok at Khaplu Baltistan. The lakes of Kachura and Satpara are beyond match. Some of the foreigners who visited Kuchura Lake weren’t so impressed when they were heard saying they didn’t see a better lake than Kachura did.

The Lake atpara is a lake created by man. This also has an island. It was “the Brave” Ali Sher Khan Anchan who founded the Satpara Band during his reign (1580-1624). The band is considered an engineering foothold.

Miss Duncan has described it in the following words:

“The barrage crosses the river just as it enters the lake is about 14 feet high and 6 feet thick and has two levels of doors 6 inches per floor, per door being 5′ x 1′-9″ wide, smoothly cut, semi-circular grooves to receive the rounded edges of the dressed granite slabs, now lying in the water below that used to close them.”

A great Wall from Shagarthang to Thurgo was designed by Ali Sher Khan Anchan over mountains and rocks with forts and watchtowers. The relics of this wall and bastions can still be seen near Lake Satpara.

MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS OF BALTISTAN:

 Baltoro Muztagh of the Great Karakorum

Masherbrum Range

Saltoro Range in western Karakoram

Panmah Muztagh Range

Siachen Muztagh

Read also: Pakistan tourism industry and Gilgit Baltistan