Dispatches from the Karakoram
Confronting the Truth About the Savage Mountain – and its Surroundings
When I asked our lead guide his opinion of our recent Embark trip to K2 Base Camp, without hesitation, he said it was the best trip he ever led! The reasoning behind it is a bit sobering: no one got sick or injured or had to return early. I was floored, I had not realised how pervasive deviations from the set itinerary were and hearing this really brought home what a success our trip had been compared to many other expeditions.
Plunging into the depths of the intense mountain range in northern Pakistan, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. And for some, this journey had been years in the making- for one of us, 30 years, to be precise!
Our journey would ultimately teach us that to walk the glacier to the base of K2 is a humbling adventure like no other- an exercise in teamwork, fluid expectations and adaptability. This terrain doesn’t give an inch. It is unapologetic in its extremities, exposure and ever-changing environment. Indeed, when you’re using a glacier to travel; you’re made acutely aware of how ever-changing and rugged the terrain is. And, this area of the world is renowned for its extremes in weather. Those two factors are enough to keep you on your toes and challenge those who lack flexibility. In fact, while we were on trek, there had been serious accidents on the more elite routes and illnesses amongst the trekking community necessitated several rescues.
The importance of teamwork in this environment cannot be overstated; you have to be in this for the shared group experience. Alone, surrounded by these rugged environs, you run the risk of failure- you need the strength and support of everyone working together to succeed. And you quickly learn that you need the guidance, insight, consistency and intuition of those who’ve been connected to these mountains for generations. The intense volatility of this landscape demands attention and respect, those who’ve survived generations in these mountains know this in their souls and bones and they respect all that the mountains give… and take away.
Our guide had a truly harrowing and authentic example of just how true this reality is. Hailing from a mountain village high in the mountains; his grandmother is famous for intuiting a massive landslide that leveled the whole village. Having been part of the generations of originally Tibetan people who inhabited these rugged enigmatic mountains; she knew enough to read the warning signs of a bad landslide and was able to broadcast the imminent danger through the village mosque, saving the entire village; which included our lead guide, his 6 day old baby sister and the rest of their family.
That was in the year 2000; we stayed in the family’s new house at the end of our trek this summer, in the new village, located upriver from the old village. It is now a thriving village of 180 homes, or about 1200 people. That story is a reflection of synchronicity and the adept ability to pivot at a moment’s notice
Indeed, our ‘luck’ with weather was more a practice of nimble adjustments from one afternoon to the next to take advantage of both ‘bad’ weather and ‘good.’ We had to abandon our expectations of what our precise itinerary might look like, and write our own script according to what was being dealt to us. We encountered everything from hours-long rain, to heat waves at 16,000ft, to rockfall, to the violent aftermath of landslides and swollen and overflowing rivers. Our success at maneuvering these obstacles lay solely in the nimble reactions of our support crew- without them we would have been lost in the Karakoram and we are eternally grateful- even enlightened- by their guidance, insight and gentle coaching. “Shkaria” (thank you) for opening our hearts and minds to the profound realization that success in these mountains depends most on one’s ability to strike expectations and personal priorities from our thoughts and substitute with an open-minded, flexible, team mentality.
