Karakoram air safari2

Undoubtedly, after the mini-climax of the Nanga Parbat encounter, the ultimate climax is the fly-over towards Concordia – ‘the throne room of the mountain Gods’ – in the Karakoram Range, via the Rakaposhi mountain.

The loneliness of those lofty peaks and the mysterious unknowable places beyond them seem eternally out of reach of experience. And here was I, flying right over the realms I thought were so forbidden! And do they live up to their promise? Without exaggeration, they far surpass it! Those huge expanses of the whitest snow, those vast glaciers streaming away like broad ribbons, those secret nooks and corners, peaks and faces, valleys and ridges – always overwhelming one with the thought that no men have been on this ground, no eyes have seen these places except from the safety and distance like ours. Furthermore, like hidden jewels offered for special viewing, there are cobalt blue lakes surrounded by white expanses that have no names, whose waters are rippled with no angler’s cast or a boat’s wane.

The first mountaineering expedition to visit the heart of the Karakoram Range in the Baltoro region was in 1892 – a British group led by the art professor/explorer Martin Conway. Concordia – ‘the throne room of the mountain Gods’ – was named by Conway on this expedition. Concordia is where two mighty glaciers, the Godwin Austen and the upper Baltoro join to form the main Baltoro glacier. Concordia is surrounded by high peaks on all sides – the monarch of them all is K2.

Concordia is the ampitheatre where two mighty glaciers, the Godwin Austin and the upper Baltoro join to form the main Baltoro glacier, which then plunges down the wildest canyon in the world. Concordia is surrounded by high peaks on all sides – the monarch of them all is of course K2. Other peaks in the area that we got a close look at, were Masherbrum – unique with its yellow golden head; Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum IV, Broad peak and the Trango Towers. From the throne room we flew towards the Lord of the throne room – the K2! Unlike Nanga Parbat that stands alone, K2 – the grand monarch- stands guarded by other lofty peaks. Pyramid-like, K2 stands at 28,741 ft. The only local name for K2 is Chogori, which means ‘Great Mountain’.

"It was in 1856 that Capt. Montgomerie of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India saw a cluster of high peaks from a point 137 miles away, and entered them as K1, K2, K3 and so on – ‘K’ stands for Karakoram range. The peak labelled K1 was visible from several villages and was called Masherbrum. K3, K4 and K5 were collectively called Gasherbrum. But no established name was then known for K2, so the mountain continued to be known by its symbol."*

* From In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods by Galen Rowell

The eight highest peaks in the Baltoro region are
K 2 (28,250 ft; 8,611 metres),
Hidden Peak or Gasherbrum I (26,470 ft; 8068 metres),
Broad peak (26,400 ft; 8046 metres), Gasherbrum II (26,360 ft; 8034 metres), Gasherbrum III ( 26,090 ft; 7952 metres), Gasherbrum IV (26,000 ft; 7924 metres), Masherbrum (25,660 ft; 7821 metres), and Chogolisa (25,110 ft; 7654 metres). The nearby Trango group, only about 30 miles from K2, is a collection of granite towers and the finest in the group is called the Nameless Tower. Trango Towers are barely 20,000 feet high. All these peaks are clustered near the head of the Baltoro glacier. Outside the Baltoro region are other giants – Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet; 8125 metres), Distaghil sar (25,868 ft; 7885 metres), Rakaposhi near Gilgit (25,550 ft; 7788 metres) and at least another 80 peaks between 7000-8000 metres in altitude.