KARAKORAM MOUNTAINS: K2, HIGHEST PEAKS, GEOLOGY

KARAKORAM MOUNTAINS

20120530-Broad Peak 12th.jpg
Broad Peak, world's 12th highest mountain Pakistan is home to five of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Nanga Parbat, at 8126 meters (26,660 feet), is Pakistan’s second-highest mountain and the world’s ninth highest. All of the mountains are found in the Karakoram.

The Karakoram Mountain Range is perhaps the world's mightiest and most impenetrable mountain range, more formidable than even the Himalayas themselves, which lie to the east. Of the fourteen 8000 meter (26,246 foot) peaks in the world four of them occupy an amphitheater at the head of the Baltoro Valley in the Karakorams. Among them is K2 (28,253 feet) the second highest mountain on Earth. Altogether there are 20 peaks over 25,000 feet in the Karakoram range. Karakoram means “Black Mountain.”

The world’s greatest concentration of high mountains, including K2, can be found in the remote Karakoram Mountains The Karakoram range is a dense group of mountains and glaciers 480 kilometers (300 miles) long and 240 kilometers (150 miles) wide. The Himalayas are to the east. On the western and northern side of the Karakoram are the three more great mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, the Pamirs in Tajikistan and the Tien Shen in China, all of which have peaks over 20,000 feet.

Highest mountains in the world in the Karakoram:
2) K2 (Godwin Austen) — Pakistan-China: 28,250 meters (8,611 feet)
9) Nanga Parbat — (technically in the Himalayas) Pakistan: 26,660 meters (8,125 feet)
11) Gasherbrum I — Pakistan-China: 26,470 meters (8,068 feet)
12) Broad Peak — Pakistan-China: 26,400 meters (8,047 feet)
13) Gasherbrum II — Pakistan-China: 26,360 meters (8,035 feet)
17) Disteghil Sar — Pakistan: 25,858 meters (7,882 feet)
21) Masherbrum — Kashmir2: 25,660 meters (7,821 feet)
22) Rakaposhi — Pakistan: 25,551 meters (7,788 feet)
23) Kanjut Sar — Pakistan: 25,461 meters (7,761 feet)
30) Saser Kangri — India: 25,172 meters (7,672 feet)
41) Haramosh Peak — Pakistan: 24,270 meters (7,397 feet)

Most of the mountain range lies in Pakistan but the northern side of K2 as well as many other mountains are situated in China. Sections of the range slip into Afghanistan, India, the former Soviet Union, and the Karakoram acts act as a natural barrier between these five countries. The most traveled pass between the mountain range is the 4,733-meter (15,530-foot) high Khunjerab Pass. Khunjerab Pass. The famed Karakoram Pass between Ladakh and Yarkand is 5,540 meters (18,176 feet) high.

Karakoram and Himalayas

satellite view of the Eight-Thousanders of the Karakoram range, NASA

The Karakoram range is sometimes considered to be part of the Himalayas but generally is not. The Indus River Valley is considered the dividing line between the world's two highest mountain ranges. Unlike the Himalayas which stretch out in a long 2,400-kilometers( 1,500 mile) arc with some relatively accessible pass between the major massifs, the Karakoram range is more tightly packed group and difficult to penetrate and pass through.

The Karakoram range is dramatically different from mountains around it. The Himalayas, for example, are more rounded and look like big melted and refrozen ice castles. They gently are built from a foot hills that rise from the plains of India. The Karakoram has big frozen peaks as well put what makes the range so spectacular are it sheer granite rock faces and spikey, shark-tooth pinnacles that rise like monoliths, towering thousands of meters, from the valleys. There are parts of the these mountains were you feel like you are in the jaws of some gigantic primeval beast.

Many of the most spectacular mountains are inaccessible areas that are difficult to reach by vehicle or even on foot. If you get a chance take a plane ride through the Karakoram, which really is the only way you can get into the heart of the range. From the air will see ridges that look like the edges of axe-blades and peaks that are shaped like almost perfect cones of ice.

Karakoram Glaciers

Just as spectacular as its mighty peaks are the Karakoram's massive glaciers, some of which are the longest in the world outside the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Over 17,870 square kilometers (6,900 square miles) of the range is covered by permanent glaciers, an area almost the size of New Jersey. On the dry north side there aren't many glaciers, but on the southern side, where moisture-laden clouds crash into the peaks, you can find some of the longest valley glaciers in the world. The Batura Glacier is 57 kilometers (35 miles) long. The Sichuan and Hispar Glaciers join together to form an ice corridor 115 kilometers (72 miles) long. The most awesome of them all is the Baltoro Glacier, which sits underneath B.C. and has 30 tributaries and covers an area of 1,200 square kilometers (471 square miles).

The steepness of the Karakorams causes some of these glaciers to advance with astonishing speed. In 1904, the Hasaababd Glacier surged downhill at a speed of 16 feet an hour, light-year speed for a glacier. In two months it advanced six kilometers (four miles). The Ghongkumdam glacier on occasion extends so far it blocks the Shyok River, creating a huge dam and reservoir. When the ice dam finally bursts, massive torrential floods sweep everything in its path.

20120602-Baltoro_glacier_from air.jpg
Baltoro glacier, one of the
largest Himalayan giacers According to a report submitted to UNESCO: The Park encompasses the longest glaciers outside the Polar Regions, making up 40% of the park area. This forms the most important and fragile ecosystem of the entire region. Famous glaciers such as Hispar, Biafo, Baltoro and Chogo Lungma form complex glacial systems occupying valleys and in some cases entire watersheds. [Source: Government of Pakistan, Directorate General of Archaeology]

“Almost half of the park comprises glaciers which are famous for the extent of the regular upsurges they undergo. In the last century, 26 surges were detected in the Karakoram Range, rapid advances that involved at least 17 glaciers. In 1955, Kutiah glacier advanced 12 km. in only three months, the fastest glacial surge ever recorded. Glacier tongues enlarge and push forward at a rapid pace, becoming devastating flows of ice and rock, blocking valleys, closing roads and caravan routes and creating lakes.

“This trend in upsurge is part of a complicated phenomenon known as the "Karakoram Anomaly," where glaciers in the Karakoram mountains have overall remained stable and even increased in mass, in contrast to many glaciers nearby and worldwide which have receded during the past 150 years, particularly in recent decades. New studies reveal that the area has a unique weather pattern that keeps the ice cold and dry during the summer months. Unlike the rest of the Himalayas, the Karakoram region is not negatively affected by summer monsoon season, when although the ice melts a little, the melting is offset by heavy snowfall in the extremely cold winters.”

Karakoram Geology

Like the Himalayas the Karakoram was created 65 million years when the Indian subcontinent collided with the Asian plate. The most impressive mountains in the range are composed of crystalline rocks such as granite and gneiss, whiles others are made up of schists and sedimentary rock. Their sharp, spikey shapes are mainly the work of glaciers.

The lower mountains are comprised mostly of row after row of rugged, brown and grey, barren mountains punctuated by some green valleys, forests and towering snowcapped mountains and glaciers. The mountains lie outside the monsoon belt and as a result get much less precipitation than the Himalayas in Nepal and India. The lower elevations of the Karakoram mountains is often arid and lacks forest and vegetation. The valleys can be quite hot in the summer and require irrigation to grow crops.

Simplified geological map of Karakorum Block, North Pakistan Researchgate

According to a report submitted to UNESCO: The park is in a highly active tectonic zone. About 60 million to 20 million years ago, the Indian continental plate subducted under the Eurasian plate and, with the effects of extrusion and uplift of the Indian plate, several immense mountains were formed. Huge tectonic forces stemming from this collision of one plate with another have progressively thrown up the Karakoram Mountains making it one of the most tectonically-active locations in the world. [Source: Government of Pakistan, Directorate General of Archaeology]

“In an area of such intense geomorphological activity, it is not surprising that landslides are a common occurrence. The region of the park has an ambivalent relationship with these events, on the one hand they bring disaster and destruction, but at the same time they reconfigure the landscape, creating new landforms with potential for habitation and agriculture. For example, villages and their fields are often located directly on land resulting from former landslides.

“From a geological and structural point of view, the Central Karakoram National Park is located in an area of very active seismicity, one of the main triggering factors in the occurrence of landslides. To live in such a high risk environment, it is necessary to learn to cohabit with extremely dangerous phenomena and to identify the safest areas for the habitation. In this regard the Central Karkorum has international scientific and geomorphological hazard significance because of the on-going geological processes influencing its stability.”

People of the Karakoram

People of the the Karakoram that live in the valleys speak a variety of languages. Some claim they are descendants of soldiers from armies of Alexander the Great (known as Iskander). Some groups definitely have lighter skin and more European features than people from the plains yet linguistic evidence and the presence of physical features form China and Central Asia indicate the people are descendant of waves if immigration and invasions. Some have Aryan and Tibetan blood. Islam didn’t arrive until the 12th century and never took hold in some remote valleys.

Some of valleys were independent kingdoms ruled by their own leaders, including the Thums of Hunza, the Mehtars of Chitral and the Rajas of Skardu. At various times large kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Dardistant in the 12th century and Kashmir in the 18th century exerted control over the area. The British arrived in the late 19th century to counteract Russian expansion in the area. Today most of the people are Muslims, divided among the Sunni, Shiite and Ismaeli sects. Pockets of Buddhism and animism remain, . The Karakoram Highway has had a profound influence on these people, opening them up to the outside world in a way that never had occurred before.

According to a report submitted to UNESCO: There are 230 settlements of approximately 115,000 people living immediately adjacent to the park, the borders of which have been designed to exclude all villages and pasture lands. However, these communities have traditional rights in the park area to access seasonal pastures for grazing, hunting, collecting firewood, timber and medicinal plants. [Source: Government of Pakistan, Directorate General of Archaeology]

Climbing in the Karakoram

Trango Tower is an incredible shark tooth of granite that to reaches a height of 6,238 meters (20,469 fee) and standst above an ice tributary of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range. Located in an area controlled by the military, Trango tower was not climbed until a British team reached the summit in 1976. A German team climbed the south Face in 1988. The sheer, dramatic 1000-meter (3000-foot) east face was not climbed until 1995—by three cowboy climbers from Wyoming who described their experience in the April, 1996 issue of National Geographic.

Among the obstacles endured the by the cowboy climbers were falling pieces of bowling-ball size ice, scrapes and cuts that healed slowly in the thin-oxygen air, a storm that lasted for over a week, frayed ropes, wide expanses of blank granite with no hand or footholds. The three climbers free climbed the entire cliff and carted nearly two tons of equipment up the cliff. From their perch high above the Karakorams, the climbers witnessed beautiful sunsets, spectacular mountains and glaciers, and mortar shells lobbed by Indian and Pakistani troops. For a while the world's highest base parachute camp was on 5,882-meter (19,300-foot) Great Trango Tower in August 1992. The record now is from a 7,720 meter (23,687 foot) perch on Mt. Everest

In an article on climbing K2 in the winter, Mark Jenkins wrote in National Geographic: “It’s difficult to explain why anyone would want to climb in the Karakoram during winter, a time when some of the world’s tallest mountains are transformed into an otherworldly arena. Hurricane-force winds regularly strafe their jagged contours armored in hard gray ice, and temperatures plummet to -80°F, lower than the average temperature on Mars. [Source: Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, February 25, 2018]

K2, world's second highest mountain

Rising along the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, these monstrous peaks — which dwarf the Rockies — have little tolerance for humans in any season, but especially in winter. They envelope climbers in blizzards, bury them in avalanches, freeze their blood, and snap their bones. Such brutal conditions have sent most mountaineers home to wait for summer — the traditional Karakoram climbing season.

Karakarom Climbers

On some of the climbers he met at K2 base camp, Graham Bowley wrote in New York Times: “In contrast to the porters’ cast-off clothes and sandals, these mountaineers wore expensive high-tech walking gear. A 39-year-old engineer from Germany, Dirk Grunert, obsessively drank liters of boiled water daily to cope with the altitude. A fit couple from Portugal maintained via satellite phone a Web site of their adventures. There were also three Polish mountaineers, including a loud man named Jacek Teler, on his sixth trip in the Karakoram, who conferred with the porters in broken Urdu, performed kung-fu exercises in the mess tent, and was clearly seeking a chance to live a role distant from reality as most of us know it. [Source: Graham Bowley, New York Times, June 27, 2009]

“They all had stories of near-death experiences in these mountains. Dirk turned back in deep snow near the top of Nanga Parbat. Another year, he was pinned for three nights by a whiteout just below the summit of Broad Peak and, yet another time, was narrowly missed by falling ice. Paulo Roxo, one of the Portuguese, related tumbling dangerously when his rope once failed. “I never can say why I climb, though danger is part of it and the unplanned nature of it,” he said.

“Everyone had a close friend who had died. I had come as a mere observer, intending only to trek to K2 base camp and no higher. Listening to the real climbers I could only reflect on the scale of their ambition to tempt fate and return to the perils, again and again.

Highest Mountains in the World in Pakistan

2nd highest in the world) K2 (Chhogori, Godwin Austen): 8,611 meters high (28,251 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°52 53"N 76°30 48"E); first climbed: 1954; Pakistan-China [Source: Wikipedia]

9th highest in the world) Nanga Parbat: 8,126 meters high (26,660 feet high); range: Nanga Parbat Himalaya (35°14 14"N 74°35 21"E); first climbed: 1953

11) Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak, K5): 8,080 meters high (26,509 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°43 28"N 76°41 47"E); parent mountain (the first higher mountain beyond the key saddle with at least 500 m prominence itself): K2; first climbed: 1958; Pakistan-China

12) Broad Peak: 8,051 meters high (26,414 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°48 38"N 76°34 06"E); parent mountain (the first higher mountain beyond the key saddle with at least 500 m prominence itself) : Gasherbrum I; first climbed: 1957; Pakistan-China

13) Gasherbrum II (K4): 8,035 meters high (26,362 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°45 28"N 76°39 12"E); parent mountain: Gasherbrum I; first climbed: 1956; Pakistan-China

15 ) Gasherbrum III (K3a): 7,946 meters high (26,070 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°45 33"N 76°38 30"E); parent mountain: Gasherbrum II; first climbed: 1975; Pakistan-China

17) Gasherbrum IV (K3): 7,932 meters high (26,024 feet high); range: Baltoro Karakoram (35°45 38"N 76°36 58"E); parent mountain: Gasherbrum III; first climbed: 1958

19) Distaghil Sar: 7,884 meters high (25,866 feet high); range: Hispar Karakoram (36°19 33"N 75°11 16"E); parent mountain: K2; first climbed: 1960

21) Khunyang Chhish: 7,823 meters high (25,666 feet high); range: Hispar Karakoram (36°12 19"N 75°12 28"E); parent mountain: Distaghil Sar; first climbed: 1971

22) Masherbrum (K1): 7,821 meters high (25,659 feet high); range: Masherbrum Karakoram (35°38 28"N 76°18 21"E); parent mountain: Gasherbrum I; first climbed: 1960

25) Batura Sar: 7,795 meters high (25,574 feet high); range: Batura Karakoram (36°30 37"N 74°31 21"E); parent mountain: Distaghil Sar; first climbed: 1976

26) Kanjut Sar: 7,790 meters high (25,558 feet high); range: Hispar Karakoram (36°12 20"N 75°25 01"E); parent mountain: Khunyang Chhish; first climbed: 1959

27) Rakaposhi: 7,788 meters high (25,551 feet high); range: Rakaposhi-Haramosh Karakoram (36°08 33"N 74°29 22"E); parent mountain: Khunyang Chhish; first climbed: 1958

Book: “Sivalaya” by Louis Baume, a book of facts about the world's 14 highest mountains.

K2

K2 (in the Karakoram range between China and Pakistan) is the second highest mountain in the world after Mt. Everest. The jewel of the Karakoram Range, it is 8,661 meters (28,251 feet) high, which is just 237 meters (778 feet) less than Everest. The height of these peaks is determined by surveyors who takes measurements from different sides of the mountain and then average the heights together. K2 is sometime called Mount Godwin Austen after the British scientist who surveyed it in 1860. It was first climbed in 1954.

K2, also known as Chhogori, is about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) northwest of Mt. Everest — between Baltistan in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram mountain range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang. The chain of triangulation locations to determine the height of K2, began 2,900 kilometers (1,700 miles) away in Madras. Coordinates: 35°52 53"N 76°30 48"E [Source: Wikipedia]

K2 is a broad glacier-shrouded peak that looks like an almost perfect white pyramid on a plateau. It is considered one of the most beautiful but also one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. Because of it steep slopes, violent summers storms, and high risk of avalanches many mountaineers consider K2 to be a much more difficult climbing challenge than Everest. K2 was called the Savage Mountain by George Bell, a climber on the 1953 American Expedition, because "It's a savage mountain that tries to kill you."

Gasherbrum I

Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak, K5) is the world’s 11th highest mountains. It is 8,080 meters high (26,509 feet high) and located in the Baltoro Karakoram range at coordinates 35°43 28"N 76°41 47"E.. Its parent mountain (the first higher mountain beyond the key saddle with at least 500 meter prominence itself) is K2. Situated on border of Pakistan and western China, Gasherbrum I was first climbed in 1958. It is often claimed that the word "Gasherbrum" means "Shining Wall", presumably due the spectacular face of Gasherbrum IV. In fact the name comes from the Balti words "rgasha" (beautiful) and "brum" (mountain) and thus means actually means "beautiful mountain".

20120602-Gasherbrum_I 11th.jpg
Gasherbrum I, world's highest 11th mountainAccording to NASA’s Earth Observatory: Gasherbrum I is situated along the same horseshoe-shaped ridge on the border of Pakistan and China as Gasherbrum II, though Gasherbrum I is 46 meters (151 feet) taller. An American team made the first ascent in 1958, following a ridge on the southwest face. When Andy Kaufman and Pete Schoening reached the broad, snow-covered summit after battling through deep snow, they used small hand mirrors to signal their success to teammates at a camp below. [Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov ]

There had been a total of 334 successful ascents as of March 2012, while 29 climbers had died trying—a fatality rate of about 9 percent. Gasherbrum I is the only eight-thousander that Americans climbed first. Austrians, in contrast, were among the teams to ascend five of the eight-thousanders first. Nepalese climbers were the first teams up four of them. French teams were the first up two eight-thousanders. And Chinese, Japanese, Swiss, Italian, German, New Zealand climbers were all among the first to summit one of the eight-thousanders.

Broad Peak

Broad Peak is the world’s 12th highest mountains. It is 8,051 meters high (26,414 feet high); and located in the Baltoro Karakoram range at coordinates 35°48 38"N 76°34 06"E. Its parent mountain is Gasherbrum I. Located on border of Pakistan and western China, Broad Peak was first climbed in 1957.

According to NASA’s Earth Observatory: Located just a few kilometers southeast of K2, Broad Peak is the third tallest mountain in the Karakoram Range. Its name comes from its unusually long summit ridge, which extends for about 2 kilometers. There is a snow-filled, saddle-shaped low point—or col—that separates the main summit from another high point to the north known as the central summit, which is just 31 meters (102 feet) shorter (8,016 meters versus 8,047 meters). [Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov ]

There is some discussion within the climbing community about whether the central summit deserves recognition as the 15th eight-thousander. Peaks in the Karakoram are only considered independent mountains if at least 500 meters of topographic prominence separates them from neighboring high points. If not, they are considered subsidiary peaks. While Broad Peak’s central summit doesn’t have enough prominence to be considered its own mountain, geographers think this could change in the future if the snow and ice that has collected in the col retreats enough.

An Austrian team was the first to climb Broad Peak, following a route up the southwest face in 1957. The team took no bottled oxygen and carried all of their own equipment rather than relying on porters. There had been a total of 404 successful ascents of Broad Peak as of March 2012, while 21 climbers had died trying—a fatality rate of about 5 percent.

Gasherbrum II

20120530-gasherbrum I HiddenPeak 11th.jpg
Gasherbrum 2, world's
13th highest mountain Gasherbrum II (K4) is the world’s 13th highest mountains. It is 8,035 meters high (26,362 feet high) and located in the Baltoro Karakoram range at coordinates 35°45 28"N 76°39 12"E). It parent mountain is Gasherbrum I. Situated on border of Pakistan and western China, Gasherbrum II was first climbed in 1956.

According to NASA’s Earth Observatory: The four Gasherbrum peaks are the highest points along an enormous horseshoe-shaped ridge on the border of Pakistan and China. The ridge encircles South Gasherbrum Glacier, a bowl-shaped mass of ice that flows into Baltoro Glacier, the longest glacier in the Karakoram (62 kilometers, or 39 miles). Gasherbrum II, the thirteenth tallest mountain in the world and the second tallest in the Gasherbrum group, is on the northernmost section of the ridge and about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southeast of K2—the tallest mountain in the Karakoram. [Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov ]

An Austrian team was the first to reach Gasherbrum II’s summit, following a route up the south face along the southwest ridge in 1956. The Austrian team pioneered a new approach to climbing. During the ascent, night overtook the climbers at about 7,500 meters (24,600 feet). Rather than turning back to camp, they spent the night huddled near a cliff with no gear other than what they were carrying—a technique known as bivouacking. It was the first time a team deliberately bivouacked the night before attempting to summit an eight-thousander.

Today, Gasherbrum II is considered one of the safest and easiest eight-thousanders to climb. Over the years, climbers have skied, snowboarded, parachuted, and even hang-glided down from the summit. There had been more than 930 successful ascents of Gasherbrum II as of 2012, while only 21 people had died trying—a fatality rate of about 2 percent, the second lowest for the 8,000 meter peaks.

Karakoram-Pamir Region of China

Karakoram-Pamir, including Tashkurghan National Nature Reserve (N36 10 E76 30) and Pamir Wetlands National Nature Reserve (N75 12 E75 12) was nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010. According to a report submitted to UNESCO: The Pamirs are the most famous mountain convergence zone in the world. It is the largest mountain convergence zone that was formed by the convergence of the Tian Shan Mountains, the Kalakunlun Mountains, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Jierter-Sulaiman Mountains. It lies in the hinterland of Eurasia and extends across China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan with an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers. [Source: National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO]

“The nominated area includes the highest peaks of the Karakoram and Pamir Mountains. The Karakorams lie to the southeast of the Pamirs and to the northwest of the Tibetan-Qinghaian Plateau, along the international boundary of China and Pakistan, India and Kashmir. They are the highest mountains in the world except for the Himalayas. They have a length of more than 700 kilometers and a width of more than 100 kilometers. Topographically, the Karakorams are typical very high mountain, with a relative altitudinal difference of 3,000-5,000 meters.

The average height of the main ridge is 6,500 meters, and the main peak of the Karakorams is K2, which is the second highest peak in the world with an altitude of 8,611 meters. There are four mountain peaks of more than 8,000 meters and 29 mountain peaks of more than 7,000 meters in this area. The nominated 'Pamir Peaks' area lies on the eastern edge of the Pamirs. It is one of the main concentrations of the world's very high mountains. Of them, Kongur Tagh, the Jiubie Mountains and Mt. Muztag Ata are the highest peaks of the Pamirs, with altitudes of 7,719 meters, 7,530 meters and 7,546 meters respectively. These mountains are famous throughout the world. Mt. Muztag Ata is known as 'the Father of Glaciers' and it is a famous mountaineering base.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (tourism.gov.pk), Official Gateway to the Government of Pakistan (pakistan.gov.pk), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated July 2026