Personalities of hunza

Nazir Sabir

Nazir Sabir is a Pakistani mountaineer. He was born in Ramanji a small hamlet in Chiporsun, upper Hunza known as Gojal. He is the only Pakistani to have climbed Mount Everest and four of the five 8000m peaks in Pakistan, including the world’s second highest peak K2 in 1981, Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak in 1982, Gahserbrum 1( Hidden Peak 8068m ) in 1992 and he became the first climber from Pakistan to have summitted Everest on May 17, 2000 with Mountain Madness Everest Expedition led by Christine Boskoff of the USA.

Climbing career

Nazir started off his climbing career with a Japanese expedition to the 7284m Passu peak in Hunza in 1974. In 1975 he was part of a German Expedition as a trainee that attempted Nanga Parbat (8125m) and only went to 6700m up the S W Ridge. On July 17 1976 he made the first ascent of 6660m virgin Paiyu followed by Col. Manzoor Hussain and Major Bashir with the first Alpine Club Expedition.

In 1977 Nazir Sabir joined the largest Japan/Pakistan joint expedition to K2, attempting the traditional South East Abruzzi ridge. It was a huge expedition, using bottled Oxygen; this team had an army of 1500 porters and 52 members. However Nazir Sabir’s first assault team including four Japanese had to turn back due to snow storms from 8280m. Another attempt with the same team had to be abandoned again from 8150m when they had to come down searching for two missing colleagues who were found alive below C4. However they put six members of the team on the summit making the second ascent of K2.

Till then only two mountaineers of the 1954 successful Italian expedition had stepped on the K2 Summit. Nazir Sabir got the chance to climb K2 in 1981 by accompanying a Japanese Waseda University Expedition to K2 attempting the West and South West ridge rather than the usual Abruzzi ridge. The Duke of Abruzzi had, in 1909, surveyed K2 from all its sides. He felt that K2 could only be assailed from the South West ridge, which was to be named Abruzzi Ridge. The route to the Wes/North West Ridges of K2 is via Savoia Glacier. This is north of Godwin Austen Glacier and the traditional K2 Base Camp. It involves a difficult grade, ice and rock climb at higher elevations with winds at 100+ km/h. In 1978 the famous British climber Chris Bonnington made his first attempt on this route. Nick Estcourt, part of this team, was swept to his death by a slab avalanche above their Camp I.

Nazir, followed by Eiho Otani, reached the K2 summit on 7 August 1981. Nazir created history by successfully climbing K2's W/South West Ridge for the first time. He was the second Pakistani to stand on K2 summit and first via this route. A documentary film of the climb, "50 Day Struggle" shown all over Japan, made Nazir Sabir a house hold name in Japan. In due course Nazir had also picked up Japanese language and could speak it fluently.

Nazir Sabir in 1982, along with Sher Khan climbed with the famous Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and scaled Broad Peak (8047 m) and Gasherbrum II (8035 m) in one attempt. Both Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak were done in Alpine style in a period of just one week the fastest ascent of two 8000m peaks at that time!

Expeditions to the Killer Nanga Parbat

He made three attempts on Nanga Parbat. His first was in October 1981, two months after his great success on K2 when he joined his friends from the Sangaku Doshikai Club Tokyo lead by M. Omiya. They followed the First serious attempt route of A F Mummery. Nanga Parbat claimed its first of many victims when Mummery and two Gorkha Sherpas were killed by an avalanche. Nazir and the Japanese abandoned due to the heavy crevasses on lower part of the Diamir Glacier and avalanches after heavy snow fall that autumn.

Then he challenged the SS West side also known as Schell Route of Nanga on the Rupal flank in 1983 with Tohokeiryo Kai Club friends. As he was leading a pitch up a chest deep snow face around 7200m he fell 400 meters on top an avalanche along with seven Japanese colleagues nearly to the bottom of the face but barely survived as he stopped only 20m from the edge. One of the team members Shimura fell some 2000m down the face never to be found again. Nazir ended up with bruises all over the body and a sprained ankle while the team doctor Dr. Arai and Wakutsu had one broken arm each and the expedition leader Osamu Kunii had four ribs broken. Kunii also had a deep cut across his belly by the friction of the rope showing his intestines. The mountain took its toll and the expedition had to be abandoned.

Nazir lured his old time friend and one of the most accomplished Himalayan Climbers Doug Scott and his team to go on the same route of Nanga Parbat. Doug Scott , his son Michael, Aliester and Nazir free climbed and dashed to 7150m in a two day push from Base Camp at 3600. Doug got ill at the second bivouac around the same spot where they were swept with an avalanche in 1983 and had to abandon the Killer Mountain yet again.

Death of Brother

In July 1980, Nazir Sabir lost his elder brother, who servesd in the Pakistan Army SSG(Marines). He along with Shaukat Nazir Hamdani and Rasheed were buried under an ice avalanche while attempting Diran 7527m on this Army SSG Expedition while waiting out a bad weather spell in camp-3 thus ending the hopes of Nazir and his brother to climb Broad Peak the following year and many mountains together. The Expedition was lead by the famous Brig TM.

Everest Expeditions

Nazir Sabir’s attempt on the Everest leading the first Pakistan Expedition of ten plus a film team in 1997 resulted in failure due to very strong winds blowing across the summit ridge from 8630m on his first attempt and again from above 8500m on his two other summit bids he had to return with his five colleagues due to strong blizzards.

But on 17 May 2000, climbing in the company of his Nepalese Sherpa team and a Canadian on a full moon night to avoid high winds he reached Everest summit at 0730 hours becoming the first from Pakistan to get to the roof of the world. He first paid tribute to his many dead friends on the higher ground of Everest including Scott Fischer, Rob Hall, Ube Akira, Kobayashi, Yasuo Kato, Futagami and many more who gave their lives in love of these eternal higher heavens.

While waiting for Ben Webster of Canada and two other Sherpas he went on enjoying the most splendid moments of his life with his two Sherpa colleagues taking video shots of Ben and others climbing the last part of the summit ridge and the magical surroundings against the backdrop of the much blessed early morning sun approaching from behind 8462m Makalu, 5th highest mountain in the world.

He spoke to the base camp and sent the message of humbleness and happiness back home and to his closest friends who were watching his progress and counting steps up the last part of the mountain as he climbed through the clear night winds. He received hundreds of messages from across the country and the globe including that of Benazir Bhutto who was second to send in her congratulations from London where she lived at the time.

Political career

As a reward for years of services rendered to the people of Hunza, Nazir was elected as their representative to the Northern Area Legislative Council in the October 1994 elections and appointed Advisor on Education and Tourism to the government. Campaigning for the Hunza seat in the 1994 elections for the Northern Area Assembly, for a five year term, he defeated his opponent from the traditional Mir of Hunza family with a wide margin. He was appointed as Advisor on Education and Tourism for the Northern Area. He has remained a member of the Northern Areas Legislative Council and Education Advisor of the administration of the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Honours and as environmentalist

For his outstanding achievements he earned the prestigious President’s Award for Pride-of-Performance [1] in 1982 and was honored with The Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) in 2001 for his outstanding performance in mountaineering sports. His latest honour is the Presidentship of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, to which he was elected unanimously on October 10, 2004 and again for another term in 2007. Presently he heads the Alpine Club of Pakistan, which trains and prepares men and women from all around Pakistan to become climbers. Nazir Sabir is currently working as an environmentalist on the conservation of wildlife in his native Hunza Valley and across Nothern Pakistan including the Baltoro Glacier region. He is involved on the conservation 0f the 5000 years old world heritage of Juniper forests in Ziarat Balochistan in collaboration with the Chiltan Adventure. He has also been raising voice on environmental matters in the Siachen Glacier region and across the Karaakoram belt, opposing the Polo Tournaments at Shandur Pass and the Babusar Pass that is polluting the serene environment and is against the animal rights.

Business career

Nazir Sabir is operating an an adventure travel oufit which he is running under the name of "Nazir Sabir Expeditions" and is known for reliable adventure business. He has been actively involved in promoting Pakistan as a unique tourism destination " The Best Kept Secret " in South Asia and has traveled extensively around the world lecturing on the country’s cultural, historical and adventure potential.

International events

On the invitation of UIAA/IUCN (www.uiaa.ch/iucn/) he participated in the Indo Pakistan and UK Peace Climb in the Swiss Alps in 2002, organized to focus attention on environmental degradation in the Siachen Glacier area due to the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.

He also attended the Int’l Congress on “Future of Mountain Sports” (www.mountainfuture.at) at Innsbruck (Austria) in 2002, centennial celebrations of American Alpine Club Salt Lake City in 2002, Sagarmatha Golden Jubilee celebrations in Kathmandu Nepal in 2003.

For over two decades he has been representing Pakistan and delivered lectures on the tourism potential of Pakistan at international forums and Alpine Clubs in Japan,USA, Australia, UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, Nepal, South Korea, Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Poland, Slovakia, Malaysia France and Italy. He was invited to be a jury member at the Banff Mountain Film Festival Canada in 1996, Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) in 2002, Bratislava Mountain Film Festival in 2002, and was invited as chief guest at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival in 2006. He also participated at the Trento Mountain Film Festival in 2003.

As a photojournalist and naturalist Nazir Sabir has in his archives a collection of over 5000 slides of mountains and the culture surrounding them and he goes around doing promotional slide talks at universities and different platforms in Pakistan and around the globe.

Ladyfinger Peak

Bublimotin, Bubli Motin, Bublimating or Ladyfinger Peak, is a distinctive rock spire in the Batura Muztagh, the westernmost subrange of the Karakoram range in Pakistan. It lies on the southwest ridge of the Ultar Sar massif, the most southeasterly of the major groups of the Batura Muztagh. The whole massif rises precipitously above the Hunza Valley to the southeast. Bublimotin, while having little prominence above the saddle with nearby Hunza Peak, is particularly notable for being a sharp, relatively snowless rock spire among snow peaks. This, combined with its height above the valley, makes it quite eye-catching; hence the distinctive name. It provides a 600m (1830 ft) rock climb (with a very serious alpine approach) and has been the scene of some notable paragliding.

K2 climb

Jul 31, 2004 00: 03 EST
Every year, Everest draws attention from the entire world. Climbers scale the worlds tallest mountain virtually before an audience of millions, those following the quests on their home computers.

As Everest close down, some time around the end of May, another drama unfolds. This is the Karakorum season opening in Pakistan and China. Usually far from the eyes of the international media, the worlds foremost climbers assemble here in June and July, to climb the worlds toughest alpine peaks. The crown of those is named K2.

The Savage Mountain

Dubbed the "Savage Mountain," K2 in the Himalayas is Earth’s second-highest peak and among the top three hardest climb in the world. With a 8,611-meter (28,250-foot) summit and surrounding weather that is significantly colder and less predictable than on Everest, reaching the top of K2 and coming down alive is every veteran mountaineers dream.

K is for Karakorum

K is for Karakorum and K2 was first summitted on this day, July 31, in 1954. Since then, there have been around 240 summits (compared with approximately 2000 on Everest). Fifty six climbers have died on K2, twenty-two while descending from the summit. In terms of the overall summit/fatality rate of 23%, it is the third most deadly mountain in the world. Only Nanga Parbat and Annapurna are deadlier. K2s statistics for female climbers are particularly dramatic. Some even say K2 is "cursed" for women. Six women have reached the top, but of those 6, three died on the descent. (2 have since died on other 8,000-meter peaks.)

Shangri-La of ultimate fear

Situated in the middle of an isolated paradise, it is thought to be part of the fictional Shangri-La that James Hilton wrote about in Lost Horizon. In spite of the dangers, the mountain continues to lure climbers to it´s slopes of dark gray rock. It is the ultimate fear and as such must be faced and overcome by climbers aiming for alpine excellence. In scaling Everest, you are a great climber to the world. Summit K2, and you are a true climber to climbers.

A history of blood and triumphs - K2 100 years ago

The first attempt on K2 took place in 1902. One of the members of the doomed expedition, the ‘wickedest man on Earth’ and also one mean climber, was Aleister Crowley. He had many important solo climbs in the Western Alps, including a couple of firsts. For several years he had been moving swiftly up the ranks of the occult orders much to the dismay of the senior members. After offending just about every person involved in black magic at the turn of the 20th century and incurring several ‘attacks’, Crowley left his home in London. An accomplished climber, he found his way on to the K2 expedition.

Bad omen

The first bad omen for this first attempt on K2 was the arrest of Eckenstein, the expedition leader. Rumor has it that Eckenstein’s old nemesis, William Conway, then the president of the Alpine Club, had arranged for the incarceration in Kashmir. Three weeks later Eckenstein was released and joined his team at base camp only to walk into a raging debate on which route to take. The irreverent and bizarre Crowley wanted to attack the South-East Ridge but the team decided on the North-East Crest. As it turned out Crowley was right; the team had to turn back at 6,000 meters. To make his point during the frustration of failure, Crowley took out a revolver and threatened several members of the team. The expedition regrouped and planned for a second attempt.

Down from thin air into deep fogs of Heroin

A second attempt, this time via the saddle between K2 and Skyang Kangri (7,544m, The Staircase), redeemed Crowley and his superb mountaineering skills. When a fellow climber was struck by pulmonary edema, Crowley was the only one to recognize the severity and insisted on taking the sick man off the mountain. This decision saved the climber’s life but prevented the team from reaching the peak. Soon after the expedition Crowley began a long descent into heroin addiction. His behavior became more bizarre and iconoclastic and his activities more infamous each day.

Bat wife

At one point he became convinced his wife was a bat, Crowley forced her to sleep tied upside down in a closet at nights. By the time of his death, Aleister Crowley, was a permanent fixture in the world’s history of the occult, and a lesser known climber on the first attempt on K2.

The first victims

In 1939 the legendary mountaineer, Fritz Wiessner, led a fateful expedition to K2. Wiessner, an American born in Dresden, was only 200 meters from the summit when he was forced to turn back. Tragedy and exhaustion overtook the expedition and Wiessner never had another chance to reach the summit.

The fifteen member team was whittled down to five by camp VII; Wiessner, Dudley Wolfe, a millionaire climbing and yachting enthusiast, and three sherpas. Three days later it was just Wiessner and Pasang Dawa Lama. They reached 8,380 meters before turning back. Just 200 meters from the summit Pansang became consumed with fears of waking the angry gods of the mountain and refused to go any further.

Pasang pleaded for them to turn back and try again the next day. On the descent to camp both men lost their crampons, during the night the snow had frozen into ice and the attempt the next day showed little progress. The disappointment was overwhelming, but the story was far from over.

Empty camps

At camp VIII Wiessner and Pasang found Wolfe alone, without rations and very ill. The group made the descent from camp to camp and found none of the other climbers nor any rations. Wolfe was too weak to continue and remained in the tent as the others went down to get help. A rescue team was assembled at base camp but only one man returned. Wolfe and three sherpas were lost to the mountain, K2’s first victims.

Had Fritz Wiessner made it to the summit he would have been the first man to set foot on an 8000+ meter peak, eleven years before the successful summit of Annapurna. He would have also summited the world’s second tallest mountain without the use of supplemental oxygen, a feat forty years ahead of its time.

All eternity lost in just one moment

As Wiessner once wrote, “What you may be offered in a moment all eternity will never give you back.” Though his regret is understandable his feat is nonetheless remarkable and has gone down in the great history of mountaineering.

Fritz Wiessner discovered and opened, with Hans Kraus, the Shawangunks, made the first ascent of Mt. Waddington with Bill House in 1936, and the first climbing ascent of the Devil's Tower in 1937.

K2 fifty years ago

The 'Savage Mountain' has claimed the lives of 56 Climbers beginning with Dudley Wolfe and the sherpas, Pasang Kikuli, Kitar, and Pintso in July of 1939. After several failed attempts, K2 was finally summited in 1954 by the Italians, Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. There has been a debate about the events that took place on that first climb ever since.

The controversy

In early June of 1954 a team of a dozen or so left from a 4,000m camp. In late July four men had reached camp VIII, about 200 meters below the summit. The final ascent was made by Lino and Achille and completed without oxygen...or so goes the official story.

The two men left behind at camp VIII were Walter Bonatti, then 24 years old, and the Hunza porter Mahdi, charged with the task of carrying the oxygen. According to Bonatti, who made first ascent of Gasherbrum IV in 1958, he and Mahdi could not re-supply the two lead climbers due to bad weather and darkness. So, on Lino's instruction, they left the oxygen where they were and began their descent.

Disgrace

The names of the summiteers were not released until the return of the expedition. When it was announced, Lino and Achille were celebrated as national heroes. The celebration ended a decade later when an Italian newspaper accused Bonatti of stealing oxygen and attempting a solo ascent ahead of Lino and Achille. Bonatti sued for libel and won, but he was ostracized from the climbing community and in 1965 gave up mountaineering. Bonatti has since published "The Mountains of My Life", an autobiography with stories about the expedition of 1954. In his book Bonatti displays proof of his innocence, including a photograph of Lino and Achille wearing oxygen masks on the summit.

“It appeared almost unexpectedly as in a dream”

Oxygen or not - Ardito Desio, the Italian professor heading up the expedition, once proclaimed. “It appeared almost unexpectedly as in a dream.” From Concordia the team trekked to the base of the mountain and began the historic climb to K2’s summit.

By the end of May the team reached base camp. On the first attempt Mario Puchoz, one of the climbers in the expedition, was struck by a then unknown illness. It was pulmonary edema, but in those days very little was known about the effects of high altitude on the body. The future of the expedition was in doubt.

The expedition pushed on. Lino and Achille made their way to higher altitudes. The climbers in charge of resupplying them had given up; the two climbers were left with limited supplies. In their account of what happened in those fateful days they claim that oxygen was limited and by the time of the final push they were without the life giving gas.

An Italian team victory

They managed to reach the summit; a spectacular feat under those circumstances and only half an hour later began their descent. After some serious falls the two men reached the lower camps to greet their team mates. The names of the successful summiteers were not released for many weeks after the accomplishment, for the fact that the ascent was a team effort.

K2 today

This spring, a half-century later, the Italians prepared for a spectacular golden anniversary: K2 2004 - 50 years later, a large, ambitious Italian expedition sent a 19-member team to scale Everest’s north side and then two teams to scale K2 from each side in commemoration the 50th anniversary of K2’s first ascent.

After a successful Everest season where several team members reached the summit without the use of oxygen, the expedition continued to K2 this summer.

Tragedy strikes

K2 had not been summited since 2001, no female K2 summiteer was alive and this years anniversary season started with a tragedy almost immediately:

June 10, three South Korean climbers; Lee Hwa-hyong, 36, Kim Jae-yong, 35, and Pae Kyong-kyu, 34, were found dead in their sleeping bags in a crevace covered with snow, at a point some 200 meters below the scene of the accident (6,600m). The three went missing after an avalanche struck while they were sleeping at Camp 2 6,600m. Shortly after, June 29, 5 porters drowned, caught in a swift-moving stream while carrying luggage for the Italian expedition.

Bad weather

The Italian team was split up in two - one larger on the South side including the Italian woman climber Nadia Tiraboschi, and a smaller group on the North side including the Italian female ace climber Nives Meroi.

The early tragedies were soon followed by a series of bad weather and discouraging forecasts: Only a few days before the summit push some of the reports predicted at least 10 days of bad weather and there was talk that K2 would once again remain without a summit. But the Italians trusted their own resources (including Adventure weather) which showed a more promising weather pattern.

They went up into bad weather to find the sky suddenly clearing in high camps.

Summit! Summit!

Virtually out of the blue - the news struck July 26:
The curse is broken – we just received word that Silvio Mondinelli and Karl Unterkircher of the Italian team summited K2.

In this first K2 summit in three years, the Italians marked the 50th anniversary of the first K2 summit in style. At 05.15 PM local time, about 45 minutes after Mondinelli and Unterkircher summited, Walter Nones, Michele Compagnoni, and Ugo Giacomelli followed suit. Yes, that's when K2's circle of history was closed; by Michele who is Achille Compagnoni's Grandson...

The Grandson and the Nephew

But that wasn't all - Lino had family up there as well: The Scoiattoli (translated squirrels) Northern Italian team summited in the next two days, Marco Da Pozzo, Mario Dibona, Renato Sottsass, Renzo Benedett, Luciano Zardini - and Mario Lacedelli: "A dream! A dream for all of us and Mario in particular: Lino Lacedelli will be proud of his nephew!"

A record breaking summit party

Yes it was a glorious party the "savage Mountain" threw for its birthday. Mountaineers scaled the peak in waves, one after the other, offering a record breaking season: Triple summit wave, 43 summiteers (nearly 50% more than the previous record season; 29 climbers in 1996) and 14 climbers at once, the closest was 11 on August 14, 1996.

Edurne Pasaban from Spain broke another curse of the mountain when she summited K2; the only female K2 summiteer alive today.

The Pakistan climbers

But let's not forget K2's own, the Pakistan climbers. Three Pakistani climbers scaled their Golden mountain in the same K2 joy ride: Mohammad Sanap Akam, Nisar Hussain (from Satpara Village/Baltistan ), and Muhammad Hussain (from Khaplu Village - Baltistan) were confirmed Pakistan summiteers this anniversary season.

They joined the fine ranks of other Pakistan K2 climbers:

In 1977, Ashraf Aman was the first Pakistani to climb K2. Nazir Sabir is the most famous name among Pakistani mountaineers. August 7, 1981 he reached the summit and is the only Pakistani, who has climbed Mount Everest as well. Nazir also has G1, G2, and Broad Peak.

Rajab Shah climbed K2 in 1995 and he is also the lone record holder from Pakistan to climb five eight thousand meters high peaks in Pakistan, including G1, G2, Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat. Mehrban Shah too climbed K2 in 1995, following his senior Rajab Shah. He has also G1 and G2.

But wait, it's not over yet

The toughest is yet to come. Two major expeditions remain on K2, biding their time in wind-blown camps on the slopes of the Mountaineers Mountain.

Last summer Nives Meroi (43), Italy, had a stunning grand slam success in the Karakorums: Together with husband Romano Benet and fellow climber Luca Vuerich, she reached the summits of GI, GII and Broad Peak in a mere 20 days. On the16th of May this year, Nives summited Lhotse (8516m). With six 8000m peaks under her belt, Nives is Italy’s leading lady of the mountains.

Nives is now on K2s North side with Romano and Luca. The Jet is licking the summit and the team hopes for a possible break end next week to try a summit push. Note that before this season, K2 South was last summited in 2001, whilst K2 North was last summited in 1996. K2 North in fact only holds around 30 summits out of the total 250 and no woman has ever summited K2s notorious North side.

A Magic climb

On the Magic line - Oscar Cadiach (expedition leader), Jordi Corominas, Jordi Tosas, Manel de la Matta and ‘Valen’ Giró have set Camps and fixed ropes up to the Pulpit, an intimidating rock bastion at 7500m – see picture 4. Currently in BC, they plan to climb back up as soon as the weather permits.

If they make it, they will accomplish the first repetition of an obvious but extremely difficult route following the SSW ridge, once described as ‘suicidal’ by Reinhold Messner. Only a Polish-Czech team ever completed it, back in 1986. Since them, some of the best climbers in the world have attempted it, with no success. Extreme snowboarder, Jordi Torsas has also brought his board along while climbing, just in case of a chance for a surf descent...

"The Magic Line" is the South West Pillar of K2, Reinhold Messner took one look at this route in 1979, called it "suicidal", switching to the normal Abruzzi route. The line is still the hallmark of "suicidal" excellence, with exceptionally hard, steep sections of icy rock at very high altitudes.

Happy Birthday, K2!

So there you have it, from the mad Aleister Crowley in 1902, to Lino and Achille in 1954, their grandson and nephew in 2004, a suicide attack on the Prime minister only yesterday and a Magic Line yet to be surfed, the drama of the Mountaineers Mountain continues to mesmerize the world of mountaineering.

Happy Birthday K2. Thank you Pakistan for hosting and helping crazy mountaineers like us in spite of your own troubles. And hey - Viva Italia!

1. Image of K2, courtesy of Scoiattoli team through Planetmountain.com 2.Image of Aleister Crowley courtesy of hermetic.com 3. Image of Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni, courtesy of Jerberyd.com 4. Image of Porters in the Karakorum courtesy of Ian Bergeron. 5. Image of Silvio Mondinelli (left) and Karl Unterkircher (right) courtesy of Montagna.org 6. Image of Edurne Pasaban (left) courtesy of Edurnepasaban.net and of Nives Meroi (right) courtesy of Mountain.ru 7. Images of the Magic Line route, Copyright K2 Magic Line 2004 Expedition

The Land of Hunza

There are, of course, many theories about why the people of Hunzaland live so long. Patrick Flanagan, the founder of Micro Cluster technology believes that the water is the secret along with hundreds of other people who have been using his products. The King of Hunza Land was asked why their people live so long and he said "It's the Water." The lifestyle and diet likely play an important role but their water is very different then water in other parts of the world. However, the author of the following article has her own theories. The article does provide a good picture of the superior health of the inhabitants of Hunzaland. I found the following article at:

K-2 View Point Panorama

he Iqbal top, 4850 meters, is the shortest trail and point to view K-2 and many other highest peaks of Karakoram in the largest congregation of peaks in the world offering breathtaking view. Wonderful route with mixes of typical landscapes and wild flowers, this newly discovered remote trail offers marvelous views and experiences of highest point to view K-2 remotely.

Highlights.

• Guided by highly experienced professionals with the help of the best supporting staff available in Baltistan, having undergone on the job training over many seasons with us. They are highly experienced at catering to the needs of our members, and do a tremendous amount to contribute to the overall success and satisfaction of our groups
• Dream trip can be.......Itinerary can be customized...
  Leaves any day you desire..... Shorten or lengthen trip, if you like. Swap hotels and activities, to meet your exact needs
• Lowest Price and best value of money --Save 40-50 % vs. comparable tours of this same quality.

Sost valey

Sost, the only dry port town in Northern Pakistan, is situated in Gojal region of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The dry port at Sost makes it a major trade market of the area as well as an attraction for tourists. It is the last major town inside Pakistan on the Karakoram Highway before the Chinese border . The town is an important place on the Karakoram Highway for all passenger and Cargo transport because all traffic crossing the Pakistan-China border passes through this town and the Pakistani immigration and customs departments are based here.

Accessibility:

The town of Sost is connected by the Karakoram Highway to Karimabad, Gilgit and Chilas on the South and to the Chinese cities of Tashkurgan, Upal and Kashgar in the North. Passenger road service between the Tashkurgan and the Pakistani cities of Sost and Gilgit also exists, and there is road service between Kashi and Gilgit (via Tashkurgan and Sust ). However, the border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjerab Pass (the highest border of the world) is open only between May 1 and October 15 of every year. During winter, the roads are blocked by snow.

14 Days Rakaposhi Base Camp

Day 01 : Arrival Islamabad Arrival & transfer. PM city tour of Rawalpindi & Islamabad.
Day 02 : Islamabad/Chilas Early departure for Chilas, driving on Karakoram Highway along River Indus.
Day 03 : Chilas/Gulmit Drive to Gilgit and later proceed to Gulmit. Superb views of Nanga Parbat & Rakaposhi, en route
Day 04 : Gulmit/Khunjerab Pass/Hunza Early departure for Khunjerab, the highest point on Karakoram Highway, return to Karimabad
Day 05 : Hunza AM visit Baltit and Altit Forts. PM free.
Day 06 : Karimabad/Minapin Early departure for Minapin village to start trekking. Minapin/Hapakun (3/4 hrs)
Day 07 : Hapakun/Tagafari (3/4 hrs)
Day 08 : Tagafari/Kacheili (4/5 hrs)
Day 09 : Kacheili/Hapakun (3/4 hrs)
Day 10 : Hapakun/Minapin (2 hrs) Walk down to Minapin and later drive to Gilgit. PM free.
Day 11 : Gilgit AM Kargah, a rock carved Buddha on a high cliff. PM free.
Day 12 : Gilgit/Besham Departure for Besham driving on Karakoram Highway.
Day 13 : Besham/Islamabad Drive to Rawalpindi visiting Taxila, en route.
Day 14 : Departure Islamabad Transfer on onward journey. Assistance at departure.

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