K2 Base Camp Trek

Trip highlights

• Concordia

  The confluence of the Baltoro and the Godwin-Austen, with four eight-thousanders standing round it.

• The Trango Towers and the Cathedrals

  A kilometre of vertical granite on both sides of the glacier for two full days of walking.

• K2 base camp and the Gilkey Memorial

  5,150 m on the Godwin-Austen, at the foot of the Abruzzi Spur, where the plates carry the names.

• A full camping expedition, not a lodge trek

  Cook, kitchen crew and porters for every load. There is no infrastructure on the Baltoro at all.

Dates & availability

Dates not working? Every trip here also runs as a private departure — tell us your window and we will build it around you.

At a glance

• 21 days, Islamabad to IslamabadEight days in to Concordia, a base camp day, six days out, and four days of driving either end.
• Concordia 4,600 m, base camp 5,150 mFour 8,000 m peaks within fifteen kilometres — K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II.
• Strenuous, but no technical groundLong days on moving glacier moraine. No rope, no crampons, no pass — just distance and altitude.
• Small groups, maximum 12Licensed guide, cook, kitchen crew and porters for every group load. You carry a day pack.
• Askole, the Baltoro and the Godwin-AustenJhola, Paiyu, Khoburtse, Urdukas, Goro II and Concordia, then out and back to the Gilkey Memorial.
• Hotels either end, tents betweenIslamabad, Chilas and Skardu in hotels; two-person dome tents and a dining tent for thirteen nights.
• Late June to late AugustThree departures a summer. Outside that window the Braldu jeep road and the glacier are not reliable.

Day by day

1. 1Day 1Arrival in Islamabad

   Met at Islamabad International Airport and transferred to the hotel at 540 metres. Trek briefing in the evening, with a kit check — this is the last point at which anything missing can be bought. Dinner together.

2. 2Day 2Islamabad to Chilas

   North on the Karakoram Highway, about 460 kilometres and a full day, either over the Babusar Pass through the Kaghan valley or up the Indus gorge depending on the season. The landscape empties out as you go: terraced green gives way to bare rock and the river runs fast and brown below the road. Night in Chilas.

3. 3Day 3Chilas to Skardu

   East along the Indus, past the confluence where the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush meet, and then up the gorge to Skardu at 2,500 metres. A long day with the Nanga Parbat viewpoint on the way. Night in a Skardu hotel.

4. 4Day 4Skardu to Askole

   Jeeps up the Shigar and then the Braldu gorge on a road cut into the wall of the valley — six to seven hours and one of the more memorable drives anywhere. Askole at about 3,050 metres is the last village on the Baltoro road. Camp beside the fields, and the porters are engaged this evening.

5. 5Day 5Askole to Jhola

   The walk begins. Six to seven hours down the Braldu valley on stony ground, crossing the Biafo glacier snout on the way, to camp at Jhola at about 3,200 metres. A flat day in terms of height and a long one in terms of hours, which is a fair description of most of this trek.

6. 6Day 6Jhola to Paiyu

   Five to six hours up the valley, hot and dusty, with the Trango group appearing ahead during the afternoon. Paiyu at about 3,450 metres has running water and the last trees you will see for ten days, and every expedition on the Baltoro stops here. A rest afternoon while the porters prepare loads.

7. 7Day 7Paiyu to Khoburtse

   Onto the Baltoro proper. The glacier snout is a wall of grey ice and rubble, and the first hour is the steepest ground of the whole trek. After that the route runs along the ablation valley and out onto the moraine — five to six hours to camp at Khoburtse at about 3,930 metres, under the Trango Towers.

8. 8Day 8Khoburtse to Urdukas

   A short day, three to four hours, up to the grass terraces of Urdukas at 4,130 metres. It is the only real grass on the glacier and the view from it is the finest camp view on the trek: the Trango Towers and the Cathedral spires directly opposite, and the whole Baltoro running away below. The short day is deliberate — it is the acclimatisation step.

9. 9Day 9Urdukas to Goro II

   Out onto the middle of the glacier for six to seven hours of moraine walking, with Muztagh Tower ahead and Masherbrum away to the south. Camp at Goro II at about 4,380 metres, on the ice, with tents pitched on gravel spread over it. Cold once the sun goes off the glacier.

10. 10Day 10Goro II to Concordia

    Three to four hours, and the day this trek exists for. The Baltoro bends, the valley opens, and K2 stands at the head of the Godwin-Austen glacier — 8,611 metres of it, and it does not look like a photograph. Concordia at 4,600 metres has Broad Peak on one side, the Gasherbrums up the valley, and Chogolisa behind. Camp here for two nights.

11. 11Day 11Concordia to K2 Base Camp and back

    The big day: seven to nine hours out and back up the Godwin-Austen to K2 base camp at about 5,150 metres, at the foot of the Abruzzi Spur. In a season there will be expedition camps here and climbers happy to talk. The Gilkey Memorial is on the rock spur above — plates and mess tins carrying the names of more than eighty people who died on this mountain, and it is a sobering and necessary part of the day. Back to Concordia for the night.

12. 12Day 12Concordia to Goro II

    Turning round. Five to six hours back down the glacier, with the light going the other way across the same peaks and the walking noticeably easier now the height is coming off.

13. 13Day 13Goro II to Urdukas

    Six to seven hours back to the grass at Urdukas. After four nights on ice, a camp with soil under the tent pegs feels like a considerable luxury.

14. 14Day 14Urdukas to Paiyu

    A long day, seven to eight hours, back down the ablation valley and off the glacier snout to Paiyu — trees, running water and the first wash in ten days.

15. 15Day 15Paiyu to Jhola

    Five to six hours down the Braldu valley, warm and dusty, with the river running high with afternoon meltwater. Camp at Jhola.

16. 16Day 16Jhola to Askole

    Six to seven hours back to Askole. The last walking day. Settle up with the porters in the evening, which is when the trek is properly celebrated — the crew have carried your loads for twelve days.

17. 17Day 17Askole to Skardu

    Jeeps back down the Braldu gorge to Skardu. Hotel, hot shower, a bed and a meal at a table. The afternoon is free for Kharpocho Fort above the Indus or the bazaar.

18. 18Day 18Skardu to Chilas

    Back down the Indus gorge on the Karakoram Highway. A long driving day, broken wherever the tea is good. Night in Chilas.

19. 19Day 19Chilas to Islamabad

    The last day on the highway, south into the plains. Night in Islamabad, and a dinner that has not been cooked on a glacier.

20. 20Day 20Islamabad — contingency and a day in the capital

    Held deliberately empty. The Karakoram Highway closes for landslides, the Braldu jeep road washes out, and glacier weather takes days when it wants them — all of it comes out of this day rather than out of your flight home. If it is free: the Faisal Mosque, the Margalla trails, Saidpur village, or Rawalpindi's bazaars with a guide.

21. 21Day 21Departure

    Transfer to Islamabad International for your flight home.

Good to know

This trek has no technical difficulty and it is still hard, and the two facts confuse people every season. There is no rope, no crampon work and no pass to cross. What there is: thirteen nights in a tent, four of them on ice; days of six to eight hours on glacier moraine, which is loose rubble on top of moving ice and tiring in a way that a path is not; a highest point of 5,150 metres; and no way out except on foot or, weather permitting and at your insurer's expense, by helicopter. Train by walking long days on rough ground with a day pack, not by going to a gym.

We drive to Skardu rather than fly. The flight is spectacular and it is cancelled often, and a nineteen-person trek with fixed dates cannot be built on it. That costs two days each way and buys certainty. If you would rather fly and are willing to accept the risk of losing days, tell us at booking and we will look at it for your group.

Porters carry your duffel up to 15 kg; you carry a day pack with water, layers and camera. Anything over 15 kg needs an extra porter, which we can arrange at cost. Pack for a genuine range — Askole can be 35°C and Concordia can be below freezing in the same week — and bring a sleeping bag rated to at least minus ten.

Altitude is the thing that turns people back, not fitness. The itinerary is built with a short day into Urdukas and two nights at Concordia for that reason, and your guide checks the group with a pulse oximeter each evening. Anyone who is not acclimatising will be walked down, and that decision belongs to the guide. Diamox is a conversation to have with your own doctor before you travel.

The two lists above are what we commit to. If anything in them matters to your decision, confirm it with us in writing when you book rather than relying on this page.

Questions about this trip

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