Gasherbrum II Climbing Routes

Gasherbrum II is the 13th highest mountain in the world and one of three 8000-meter peaks located in the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram range. It is situated on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan province of Pakistan, and Xinjiang province of China. Gasherbrum II was first climbed on July 7, 1956 by an Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravec. Some of the 8000 meter peaks are Mount Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Annapurna, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak. Popular mountain like Aconcagua, Ama Dablam, Island Peak, Lobuche Peak are 6000 meters tall.

To reach the summit of Gasherbrum II, climbers generally take one of two routes. The first is the South-Southeast Ridge, also known as the Japanese Route. This route is considered an alpine climb and is technical in nature. It’s considered among the most difficult climbs on Gasherbrum II’s South Face. It takes around 15 days to reach Camp-4 from Base Camp at an altitude of 7,500 meters (24,600 ft) above sea level.

The second most popular route is the Northeast Ridge, which was the first route to be climbed successfully. The Northeast Ridge route can be broken down into three sections:

1. From Base Camp at 4,800 m (15,700 ft) to Advanced Base Camp at 6,400 m (21,000 ft). This section traverses around a glacier and a moraine before meeting up with the ridgeline; this portion of the climbing expedition usually takes 8 days.
2. From Advanced Base Camp to Camp 2 at 7,100 m (23,300 ft). This section moves along steep snow and ice slopes that are between 50 and 60 degrees in angle; it takes about 12 hours for climbers to make this ascent from ABC to Camp-2.
3. From Camp 2 to Camp 3 and finally Summit at 8,035 m (26,362 ft.). On summit day you need to wake up as early as possible around 4 AM have breakfast and lots of hot drinks and finally go to the summit. After a successful summit attempt, we will descend to Camp3. The next day we will descend Camp 2 then to advance base camp and finally to basecamp.