Base camp
Concordia
Shigar district · 4,600 m
Concordia, at 4,600 m, puts four eight thousanders in view from a single camp on the ice.
Concordia is the junction where the great glaciers of the Baltoro meet. From the camp you see K2, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum I and II, all over 8,000 m. The guidebook notes that eight of the world's 30 highest mountains cluster around the head of the Baltoro, and calls it perhaps the greatest mountain scenery in the world.
Kind Base campDistrict ShigarElevation 4,600 mPosition 35.740° N, 76.470° E
About Concordia
The approach is a joy of its own. From Askole it is eight walking days: the river bed of the Braldu, the cable bridge over the Dumordo, Paiju and a rest day there, then onto the ice at Khoburtse, under the Trango Towers. Urdukas is a grass ledge and the classic Masherbrum camp. After Goro II, where you walk all day with Gasherbrum IV ahead, the last stage is about five hours to Concordia.
Concordia is also where the routes divide. Some go up the Godwin Austen glacier to K2 Base Camp. Others turn south up the Vigne glacier toward Ali Camp for the Gondogoro La crossing. Others carry on to the Gasherbrum base camps.
More than 50 mountaineering expeditions and many trekkers follow the main trail up the Baltoro every year, and we have been running this route since the late 1980s.
Elsewhere in Shigar
Swipe along the district, from the valley floor to the summits.
Town or village · 2,300 m
Shigar
Shigar is the valley that leads to K2, and its 17th century fort is now a beautiful hotel.
- 2,250 m
Safari ground
Sarfaranga
Sarfaranga is a cold desert on the Shigar river, where the annual jeep rally doubles as a festival of culture.
- 3,048 m
Town or village
Askole
Askole, at 3,048 m, is the last village before the ice, and the friendly start of every Baltoro trek.
- 4,000 m
Glacier
Biafo Glacier
The Biafo is sixty seven kilometres of ice from Askole to Snow Lake, a true glacier journey on foot.
Summit · 8,611 m
K2
K2 is 8,611 m high, the second highest mountain on earth and one of the great sights of the Karakoram.
- 7,821 m
Summit
Masherbrum
Masherbrum is 7,821 m, called K1 on the original Survey of India sheets, and it is the great view from Khaplu and Hushe.
- 5,585 m
Pass
Gondogoro La
Gondogoro La is a 5,585 m col, crossed at sunrise on fixed ropes, with four eight thousanders behind you.