Mount Chogori (K2)
This sightseeing attraction is related to the countries:PakistanChinaMount Chogori (8611 m), also known as K2 Peak, stands in the Karakoram mountain range on the border between Pakistan and China, north of the Himalayas. Chogori is only slightly less tall than Jomolungma, but climbing its icy, steep slopes is far more dangerous than conquering Mount Everest. Nevertheless, every year international groups of mountaineers rush to Mount Chogori, eager to reach its coveted summit. The mountain plateaus of the Karakoram massif are also available for traditional cognitive tourism. There are picturesque lakes, ancient cities and the ruins of fortresses that guarded the border mountain passes on the routes of trade caravans.
Video: Mount Chogori
Contents- Highlights
- History of Mount Chogori
- Geography
- Flora and fauna
- Climate and weather
Mountaineering tours in Chogori - Tourism
- Interesting places
- Where to stay
- How to get there
Highlights
Mount Chogori and the surrounding peaks of the Karakoram Range are a true “mountain Mecca” for fans of high-altitude ascents of the highest degree of difficulty. Every year dozens of mountaineers from different countries of the world arrive in the region, dreaming of conquering hard-to-access peaks. But not everyone succeeds. Chogori slopes are often exposed to hurricane winds and heavy snowfalls, threatening the lives of travelers. Often, while waiting for good weather, climbers have to take shelter in the tents of base camps for two or three weeks. In such cases, the limited supply of oxygen cylinders, food, fuel, medicines and water forces disappointed extreme climbers who never reached the peak of K2 to go back.
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The favorable period for climbing Chogori comes in July and lasts until September. At this time the sun begins to warm up, the air temperature rises and the glaciers feeding the mountain rivers melt intensively. Groups of climbers head from the foothills to base camps well in advance, as early as the second half of May, in order to have time to cross the mountain streams before the water in the rivers rises.
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However, not only extreme climbers go to the foothills of Chogori. Tourists are attracted by mountain landscapes, high-mountain lakes with clear clean water and flowering alpine meadows on the plateau. For travelers who want to admire the scenic mountainous terrains while visiting local natural attractions and historical monuments, Pakistani tour operators arrange unforgettable trips.
.History of Mount Chogori
By geologic clock, the Karakoram is a young mountain, still growing. This massif, created by the collision of the tectonic plates of the Indian and Asian continents, rose in a planetary cataclysm about 65 million years ago, at the beginning of the Cenozoic era. Around the same era, dinosaurs became extinct on the planet and the first mammals appeared.
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In the mid-19th century, British military surveyor Colonel Thomas J. Montgomery was making a detailed geographical map of the British Empire’s possessions in North India. One day the officer crossed the Kashmir Valley and climbed one of the peaks of Mount Harmuk (5142 m), which rises northwest of the Himalayan range. In clear weather, the summit offered him a panoramic view of the distant Karakoram mountain range, some 240 kilometers to the north. Montgomery sketched this landscape in his diary, numbering the peaks seen on the horizon. He prefaced the numbers with the letter “K”, meaning “Karakorum”, so as not to confuse the entries.
.https://trevaladvisor.com/img%img/Gora-Chogorireterte/K2-s-vostoka_-sfotografirovano-vo-vremya-ekspeditsii-1909-g._3618.jpg” alt=””/>‘ The mountain is called ‘Dapsang’ in China, ‘Lamba Pahar’ in Urdu in India, ‘Kogir’ in Central Asia, and traditionally referred to as K2 in Western geographical encyclopedias and international mountaineering circles..Chogori is also known by the grim nicknames “Killer Mountain” and “Wild Mountain”. This is how the famous American mountaineer George Bell characterized it after climbing K2 peak in 1953. And it is true, impassioned statistics shows that out of every four climbers who reached the peak, one member of the expedition is doomed to perish. Italian athlete and writer Reinhald Andreas Messner, who visited the peak in 1979, gave a more romantic title to his book about the conquest of Chogori. He titled his dramatic chronicle Montagne di montagna (“Mountain of Mountains”).
.Chogori Peak resembles a pyramid with sharp jagged edges. Several ice and snow-covered ridges appear from afar to be natural paths to the summit, but this impression is deceptive. The treacherous ice-covered slopes are very steep, it is impossible to camp there, and gusts of storm blizzards knock you off your feet. Snow avalanches often come down from sheer cliffs, sweeping away everything in their path and unrecognizably changing the previously explored relief. The mountaineer Fosco Maraini wrote that at the summit he was surrounded only by cold stars, naked rocks and gloomy abysses. This pristine, silent landscape, which existed before the first man existed, makes an incredible impression.
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In 1892, Englishman Martin Conway reached the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Osten glaciers at an altitude of 4691 meters. This location he named “Concordia.” Since then, mountaineers have set up base camps here.
The first desperate attempt to climb Chogori along the northeastern ridge was made by a British scientific expedition led by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley in 1902. In 68 days the explorers reached the mark of 6526 m, but the freezing gale wind with a thick snow blizzard forced them to turn back.
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Along the northern Chogori Ridge, originating on the slopes facing China, a group of Japanese climbers, led by Yukihiro Yanagisawa, first traveled to the summit in August 1982. During the descent the leader of the group died. The northern route is not popular not only because of the difficult terrain: the Chinese authorities are clearly not interested in crossing the disputed territory, officials arrange a lot of bureaucratic hurdles in the paperwork.
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The first woman to conquer Chogori was Polish athlete Wanda Rutkiewicz. She climbed the peak on June 23, 1986. Thirty minutes later on the same day, French married couple Liliane and Maurice Barrard reached the summit. Descending to the intermediate camp on the southern slopes, the couple were hit by an ice collapse and died.
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Climber Alan Hinkes, who has been to the top of Chogori, once said that climbing K2 is more dangerous than a space flight to the moon. Indeed, by the spring of 2023, the depressing list of climbers from different countries who died during the assault on Mt. Chogori exceeded 90 people. There is a modest memorial near the base camp on the southern spur of Chogori, where plaques with the names and photos of climbers whose lives were cut short on the slopes of the mountain are attached to the rocks.
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Geography
Mount Chogori, rising to 8611 meters, is the highest peak of the Karakoram Massif, stretching 700 km from the borders of Afghanistan from northwest to southeast. The Karakoram massif interfaces with the Himalayas, Pamirs and Hindu Kush, forming a vast mountainous country separating the Indian subcontinent from the desert expanses of Central Asia. The crests of the Karakoram Range form the border between the Tajik Autonomous Region of the Xinjiang Uygur District of China and the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region administered by Pakistan. The area bordering Mount Chogori on the Pakistan side is included in the Central Karakoram National Park, which sprawls over 10,000 km².
.Chogori Peak, one of Pakistan’s national symbols, is surrounded by the sharp peaks of the Karakoram Mountains, ranging from 6,000 to over 8,000 meters high, separated by kilometer-long gorges. At the bottom of the gorges, like frozen rivers, long ice fields shimmer. By the way, in the area of Mount Chogori are the largest glaciers on the planet, known beyond the polar latitudes.
.The confluence of the Godwin-Osten and Baltoro glaciers, in the gorges at an altitude of 4620 meters, is called Concordia. It is only from here that Chogori Peak first opens in all its rugged beauty to the gaze of admiring travelers. For observers below, in the foothill valleys, the peak of Chogori is not visible, it is hidden by the surrounding mountains. Usually mountaineering expeditions make an intermediate camp on Concordia. The high gorge walls protect the tents well from the wind.
.North of the Baltoro Glacier rises a group of rock formations known as the Trango Towers. All of them have their own names in response to their bizarre outlines: Monk, Obelisk, Castle and others. The Big Trango Tower (6286 meters), is considered to be the highest rock on the planet. Its eastern side, as if cut with a knife, presents the world’s longest vertical slope (1340 m). This wall was climbed in 1984 by Norwegian climbers Hans Christian Doset and Finn Daly. They climbed to the summit in triumph, but both climbers died on the descent.
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Climate and weather
The Karakoram mountain range, in which Chogori Peak is located, is located in the zone of semi-arid sharply continental climate. Thin highland air, intense solar radiation, gale force winds and significant daily air temperature fluctuations are characteristic climatic features of the region. In late September, strong western cyclones bring severe winter to Karakoram, lasting until April. At the summit of Chogori at this time, the air temperature reaches -50 °C.
.The northern slopes facing Central Asia are extremely arid and almost devoid of vegetation.
But at their foothills are spread the fertile oases of the Tarim Basin, which belongs to China.
The southern slopes of the Chogori, facing Pakistan, are the complete opposite. This part of the mountain range is subject to the humid monsoon winds blowing in from the Indian Ocean from May to September. In the valleys of the foothills, the climate is warm and peaches, juicy pears and apricots grow in abundance. Monsoons bring heavy rains, but above 5000 meters, where even in summer the average temperature fluctuates around 0 ° C, precipitation falls in the form of snow and hail.
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Earthquakes often occur in the seismically active region, causing the collapse of giant rocks and ice blocks, avalanches. The foothills of K2 Peak are dotted with such debris covered in brittle ice. They make it incredibly difficult for climbers to advance to the summit.
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Mountaineering tours to Chogori
Mountaineering groups from foreign countries use the services of specialized Pakistani companies. All bureaucratic formalities are taken care of by the organizers. At the same time, climbers must independently issue insurance policies, visas, and must have quality equipment and gear. Everything necessary can be purchased in Islamabad or Skardu.
.Trekking participants are met at the airport in Pakistan’s capital city. In the hotel the group rests, the next day arranged excursions to the capital’s attractions. Here the climbing plan is also agreed upon, equipment is thoroughly checked. Then the climbers fly to Skardu, from where the high-altitude expedition starts. The trek to the summit of K2 and the return trip lasts 52 days. The cost of the adventure will be from $35,000 per person.
.Tourism
For tourists who only want a glimpse of Mount Chogori, rather than making the dangerous climb to its summit, interesting routes are available from the town of Skardu. However, even such “light” tours require good physical fitness of the participants, as well as appropriate equipment. One of the adventurous treks that allow you to plunge into the atmosphere of mountaineering expeditions is the trek to the K2 base camp, which serves as the main reference point of all expeditions to Chogori. From Skardu groups of tourists are transported to the village of Askole by jeeps, the trip takes 6-8 hours. About a third of the road is along the left bank of the upper Indus River.
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A helicopter tour can be booked in Pakistan’s capital city, including an aerial view of Mount Chogori and other peaks of the Karakoram Range, driving through the flowering valleys of Skardu, Shigar and Askole, which offer stunning mountain scenery. The trip includes visits to medieval fortresses on the ancient Trans-Karakoram Highway, hiking on mountain glaciers, and sightseeing. Tourists overnight in hotels in several cities, and in remote mountain locations tent camping sites are prepared for travelers. The air safari lasts for 11 days. The tour starts and ends at the Islamabad airport. The cost of the adventure is from $6500.
.Interesting places
The exposition presents photographs, documents, satellite images, diaries, large-scale topographic maps and other materials telling about all the expeditions that conquered the peak K2 for the past 50 years and in the following years. Personal belongings and equipment of famous mountaineers, personal diaries with descriptions of climbing details are kept here. Separate stands are devoted to the history of Chogori conquest since the beginning of the last century, where the story about the expedition of the Italian prince Abruzzi occupies a prominent place. Those who wish can watch a selection of videos about Mount Chogori, buy disks with records, buy souvenirs. The museum is open from 10:00 to 14:00, admission is free.
.At 3 km from Skardu, a huge figure of Buddha is carved on a rock. The image was made in the VIII century. Nearby, on Lake Shangrila, there is a resort complex of the same name, built in the style of Buddhist temples.
.In the Skardu area you can visit the mountain caves where Neolithic rock paintings were discovered. On the walls of rocks, along the caravan trails of the Karakoram road, travelers for centuries have left autographs, good wishes, scratched out prayers. Researchers count up to 30,000 inscriptions and drawings. The time range of graffiti is approximately from the 7th millennium B.C. to the arrival of the Islamic religion in Pakistan in the 16th century. Tours are organized to view this stone chronicle from Skardu.
.Where to stay
Skardu town is the closest location to Mount Chogori where you can stay in tourist hotels with a wide range of prices. These places are a popular tourist destination in Pakistan. Here, travelers can choose from 124 accommodations ranging from clean guest house rooms to quite European hotels.
.The chic Shangrila Resort Skardu offers rooms for $233-$292 per night. The complex is built on the shore of a mountain lake, the buildings are stylized as Buddhist pagodas. The resort has a curious literary history, it is also famous for the original restaurant located in the fuselage of a Douglas DC-3 passenger airplane.
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Positioned in the mid-range of accommodation prices are the three-star Hotel Mashabrum ($69-$109) and Hotel Highlander Inn ($78-$87), the Mountain Lodge Holiday Hotel (up to $91).
.It’s much cheaper to stay overnight at the Dewanekhas Hotel Skardu Guest House, built 15 minutes from the local airport. Here they ask $18-20 per room per night.
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The Sadpara Skardu Motel, where the Mt. Chogori Museum is located, gets special attention from tourists. Traditionally, groups of mountaineers stop here before their trek to K2 peak. Rooms in the motel are rented for 11-13$ per day.
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How to get there
The most popular mountaineering routes to the summit of Mount Chogori are on slopes belonging to Pakistan, so getting there is via the capital Islamabad, home to a new international airport opened in 2018. This air harbor receives airliners from London, Istanbul, Dushanbe, Beijing, as well as cities in many Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Regional airplanes depart from here to the city of Skardu, where the nearest airport to Mount Chogori is located. Flights are operated by Airblue and Pakistan International Airlines. Tickets cost from $56 and the flight takes 52 minutes. Before boarding passengers can catch a glimpse of the top of Mount Chogori, if the sky over the Karakoram Range is not covered with clouds. It should be taken into account that Skardu is located on a mountain plateau, due to difficult weather conditions, departures are often delayed for several days.
.From Islamabad to Skardu can be reached by bus. The ticket costs 2,200 Pakistani rupees ($8.39) and the distance is 318 kilometers. However, due to the terrible condition of mountain roads and frequent stops with document checks at army checkpoints, the trip takes up to a day and a half. Tourists who have been here do not recommend bus travel, and advise to be patient while waiting for the plane to depart at the hotel.
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Another option is to rent a car at Islamabad airport. An economy car rental will cost from $33 per day or $230 per week. It is better to take a reliable SUV, but such transportation will cost much more, 80-120 $ per day.
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Driving a car to Skardu can take about 12-14 hours, taking into account the numerous checks and queues, detours to repair areas of the road. In addition, before bridges over the gorges with one lane of traffic there are constantly “drags”. The road to Skardu winds along a narrow serpentine between chasms and sheer cliffs, where two trucks can barely separate, but Pakistani drivers rarely slow down. It’s a journey that shocks even drivers with many years of experience.
