Norman Handy - K2, The Savage Mountain: Travels in Northern Pakistan

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2017 novum publishing

ISBN print edition: 978-3-99048-716-7

ISBN e-book: 978-3-99048-717-4

Editor: Nicola Ratcliff, BA

Cover images: Patrick Poendl | Dreamstime.com

Coverdesign, Layout & Type: novum publishing

www.novum-publishing.co.uk

Introduction Birth of an idea

I had always wanted to visit the Karakoram Mountains from an early age. I remember reading the Sunday paper magazine supplement in my young teens, with glossy photos of gigantic mountains, huge cliff faces, plunging valleys and the Chinese building the Karakoram Highway (affectionately known as the KKH) named after the mountain range through which it weaves its way up through northern Pakistan and over the Chinese border.

The road was hacked out of sheer cliffs of bare rock. The people and the vehicles in the photos looked like ants and toys against the huge back drop of the mountains. And further to the east is the worlds second highest peak after Everest, K2 at 8,611 meters. Just the names of towns and mountains in the area seem to evoke oriental mystery.

The Karakoram Mountain Range is in the Gilgit Baltistan province, in the far north of Pakistan which borders Afghanistan to the west and China to the north and in the east, the mountain range stretches over the line of control into Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir. It was a long way from my suburban life in the London Borough of Bromley.

And I do love the outdoors. I remember with great affection, family summer holidays to the Lake District and trekking up the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike 978m and marvelling at the scenery, the majestic views, and the sense of adventure and achievement of walking up the path to sit on the summit. In Wales, we headed up their highest mountain, Snowdonia just a little higher at 1,085m.

It was not until I was in my twenties that I attempted Scotlands highest peak, Ben Nevis at 1,344m. This is memorable for me but for different reasons, as there was low cloud, poor visibility, it was cold, windy and lots of rain so I turned back and never did get to the top. Its not surprising it was so wet, as the nearby town of Fort William, is one of the wettest places in the country. It was not much better having turned back as I was camping and was still cold and wet.

Whilst these mountains had great views, they were a long way short of the Karakoram Mountains and the second highest peak in the world, K2 and I knew that there were more mountains just waiting to be discovered for myself.

Pakistan has featured in British history for a long while. It was part of the empire for many years. The area figured in the great game that England played with Russia in Victorian times to gain influence in this geographically strategic area. The Khyber Pass is famous for its place in history and whilst not on the KKH itself, is in the same area and features in several films of the 1960s and not just because of the release in 1968, of the film, Carry on up the Khyber featuring many of the regulars of the Carry On team.

There was a network of ancient caravan routes collectively called the Silk Route stretching from China to Europe that Marco Polo travelled along in the thirteenth century. It wasnt just an east west route but had several spurs for instance north to Russia and south through the Karakoram Mountains through what is now Pakistan to the sea and onwards by sea to the Gulf. For years caravans traded along this route carrying silk, spices, sandal wood, slaves, gems including lapis lazuli, artwork, intellectual ideas and religion.

The conquest of Everest on 29 th May 1953, the conquest of K2 on 31 st July 1954 and the Apollo landings on the moon on 20 th July 1969, when my parents would wake me up, so I could see it live during the night were inspirational in exploration and expansion of mans horizons. And I felt that in that same vein of adventure, I wanted to visit the Karakoram, not necessarily new to mankind but new to me.

The mountains are formed by plate tectonics, with the Indian plate thrusting northwards into the more static Eurasian plate. Where the two meet, the edges are crumpled under the relentless pressure and thrust upwards to form mountains. This is a continuous process but it can manifest itself in sudden movements in the form of violent earthquakes at any time.

There is not one mountain range, but in fact, several ranges and the Himalayas, the Karakoram, the Pamirs and Hindu Kush mountain ranges all meet here. At the same time, the large amounts of rain and snow that fall here feed the rivers that cut deep valleys. Added to this river erosion, despite its southerly position, its latitude is level with the central Mediterranean, due to the altitude, there is snow and ice on the mountain tops and glaciers in the valleys. Some of these glaciers, such as the Siachen, Biafo, Hispar and Baltoro glaciers, are each over 60kms long and are the longest glaciers in the world outside of the Polar Regions.

It is a long way to go and I wanted to do more than just drive up and down the KKH, in short I wanted a purpose other than just to see the road. So after a little research, there were other places of interest to be added to the KKH trip. There was a trek to K2 base camp, a visit to the Kalash valleys, the Deosai plateau, treks on glaciers and a trip northwards over the border into China to visit Kashgar which was a major trading centre on the east west Silk Route.

Obviously this was a trip that was going to take a little longer than could be fitted into a two week summer holiday entitlement from my employer. The idea to visit this area was born but there were practicalities to overcome and not just the holiday entitlement issue. There was planning, the cost and family commitments. Therefore, it was still on my bucket list of things that I wanted to do but it dropped down the list in terms of being practical to undertake.

It was some time later that I found myself divorced, working in London but with a 70 minute commute by train. I loved my job but hated the travelling to and from work. After more than 30 years of commuting, I had had enough. The trains were crowded and there was the noise from peoples earphones forcing you to listen to their music, whether you wanted to or not. The train was too hot in summer, too cold in winter and inane half conversations over heard from people on their mobiles.

I had started to devote holidays to ticking items off my bucket list but as fast as I was completing a journey, I would find inspiration to discover something else, so I was adding to the list as fast as I was ticking them off. I also looked at the list and as I was getting older, noted that some of them would require higher levels of fitness and perhaps could not wait for retirement. Therefore, these ought to get priority over cultural visits and cruises before I got too old. I had wanted to reach the summit of Mount Elbrus, Europes highest peak, at 5,642m, located in the Russian Caucasus Mountains near the borders with Georgia.

I had found a Russian organisation to guide me to the top. I could walk by myself but since the area suffers from a Muslim separatist insurgency, I wanted to be sure that someone knew where I was and could raise the alarm should anything go wrong whether it was terrorism or an accident. But after filling in a medical questionnaire, it came as a bit of a shock to be told that they would not take me.

Then I discovered Karamkoram Jeep Trek International (KJTI) run by a retired University maths lecturer, who had visited the Karakoram some decades earlier and was inspired to help the locals by establishing a travel company, to guide people on tailor made tours around the area using local guides, local drivers and local hotels. Some of the photos used for publicity were stunning with spectacular scenery and local culture.