Karakorum Exploratory Trek 2026
Just back from a fantastic adventure with a couple of mates and four super tough porters from Shimshal village, exploring glaciers and unnamed passes in the remote Karakorum ranges of Pakistan. We planned our adventure to get off the beaten track and follow relatively unspoiled glaciers to passes that would lead us to more distant watersheds away from the usual trekking routes. Starting from Askole village and sharing the trail with the masses of trekkers heading up the Baltoro glacier towards Concordia, we turned up a glacier that runs just to the west of the Trango massif. Passing Great Trango and Nameless Tower on one side and Shipton spire on the other, we continued up the glacier until we reached the unnamed pass at the top, then crossed the pass at the top by abseiling over a serac and descended the South Chiring glaicer to Skinmang at the junction of the Noband Sobande glacier. We then moved up the Nobande Sobande to ascend another unnamed glacier that leads towards yet another glacier at the top of which is Tilman Pass. However we bypassed that side route to Tilman Pass in order to reach the top of our own glacier. There we found some very old artefacts on the very top of the pass. An old wooden spoon, part of a leather boot and other timber items were part of the find. They have since been passed on to the Minister for Tourism in Gilgit for research and possible identification of the group that left them there many decades ago. Crossing this pass we descend to the Braldu glacier, then crossed the Lukpe La to Sim Gang glacier, past The Ogre to Snow Lake and finally over the Hispar la to descend the Hispar glacier and out to civilisation at Karimabad. 5 weeks of glacier trekking, remote exploration, four 5000+ metre passes, a bit of discovery and oodles of crevasse hopping. An absolute blast and we hardly saw a soul between the Baltoro and HIspar glaciers. Massive thanks to MONT Adventure Equipment for kitting us out with awesome tents and down gear. Also a big shout out to Backcountry Cuisine for a great range of freeze drieds that kept us going on what was overall a pretty lean diet. Amazing vistas, great team, awsome adventure.

