MUSTAGH ATA

Last year, 11 members of our team reached the summit!

This climb of what is claimed to be one of the easier 7,546 meter peaks includes all imaginable team-services, shared-support, and group equipment.   Yet, it is very low in cost.  For those with limited resources, please investigate our "low-budget climb".  The leaders of this trip are not mountain-guides, yet they  have ascended Mustagh Ata previously, and are highly experienced mountaineers with many years of success and safety in the Himalaya, including summits of K2, Everest, and numerous other high peaks.   

Our trip starts out in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, capital of Pakistan, where our staff will personally meet your flight at the airport.   The Pakistanis are a friendly and honorable people.  The British version of English is spoken here, and many Pakistanis have relatives living in such English cities as Bradford, Manchester, and London.  This will be our 14^th visit to Pakistan, and each time we learn something new about the hospitality and customs of these charming people.

After a comfortable few nights in the hotel, a bit of touring around town, including a visit to the sacred and stunning Faisal Mosque, in its radiant setting on the edge of the Murghala Hills, and a robust sampling of the tasty-hearty Pakistani curries, we board our bus for the drive up the Silk Road, now called the Karakoram Highway, or KKH.  Our first planned stop is at the ancient Greco Buddhist town of Taxila, where you may be surprised to learn that both the armies of Alexander the Great from Macedonia, and Buddhist clerics from Tibet and India, were once well established here.  That night, we stop in Besham, a pleasant hill town, with spectacular views of the low mountains in the foothills of the Himalaya.

The road becomes windier, as we make our way up into the country called "Hunza".  If you are concerned about the altitude and brought Diamox (acetylzolamide), this might be the time to begin taking it.  We drive past the towering giant called Nanga Parbat, eighth highest mountain in the world at 8,126 meters.  If the clouds part, we will be treated to a fantastic glimpse of its 7,000 meter walls.  We reach the capital of Hunza: Gilgit-town (at 1,500 meters).   This is a pleasant market hamlet with a relaxed atmosphere and very colorful bazaar.  On a good day, we can see stunning views of such classic mountains as Rakaposhi.

We drive ever higher into the heart of the Himalaya, through Kareemabad, which is the seat of the local king, the Mir of Hunza.  We had tea with him and his family in 1996.  The mountain views are stupendous as we drive on up to the border outpost of Sust.  Located in a high plateau of 3,100 meters, Sust is an easy place to relax, and begin acclimatizing.

Now, its time to leave Pakistan and change into four wheel drive vehicles for the winding road through the 4,700 meter high Khunjerab Pass.   One really feels like they are at the top of the world up here, on what is claimed to be the "highest international highway on earth".  We drop quickly down into China, and things change rapidly.  One of the biggest changes occurs immediately at the border, when the clocks go forward by 3 hours.  Our hosts greet us at the border post in the Chinese village of Taxkergan (3,300 meters), and we welcome a delicious Chinese style feast with the local "Uighur" Muslim people, and a much deserved night’s sleep at the inn.

In the morning we are awake early, and board a tour bus for the drive to "Subashi" which means pasture in the local "Tadzhik" dialect.  By the side of the Karakoram Highway, at 3,100 meters, we unload all of our equipment from the buses, and load it directly onto camels.  These sturdy beasts, led by their gentle shepherds, the "Kirghiz" people, will carry our belongings on a five hour walk to basecamp, while we accompany on foot, carrying nothing.

We reach basecamp at 4,500 meters late in the day, have a light meal, then fall into bed for a welcome sleep.  The following day, there is plenty of time to really get basecamp well organized, rest, unpack everything, and enjoy a few good cups of tea and hearty meals of fresh local vegetables, grains, potatoes and tinned meat (separately prepared for the meat-eaters in our midst).  Our cook will be a local Chinese, who is a trained chef we have used before, and is able to prepare a tasty, filling meal on a moment’s notice.  We have plenty of fuel for boiling drinking water, as well as iodine tablets, for water purification.

Over the next few days, we hike up and down the mountain to Camp 1 at 5,300 meters.  The trail is mainly loose stones, is usually snow free and is done in hiking boots.  After carrying tents and supplies up, we move into Camp 1 and sleep.  Camp 1 is a small rocky flat place in a 15 degree hillside of loose stones, occasionally snow covered.

We explore the way to Camp 2 at 6,100 meters.  Camp 2 is located on a nearly flat, 4 degree snow plateau.  Enroute to Camp 2, at 5,750 meters, lies a miniscule ice fall, and in 1998 we put in a few fixed lines here.  We also place bamboo marker flags, in case we ever need to descend the route in a "white-out".  Eventually, after time for adjusting to the altitude, and carrying equipment up to Camp 2, we sleep there.  The slopes around Camp 2 are sustained at a 20 degree pitch, and offer the best skiing and snowboarding.  In fact, snowshoes or skis (with climbing skins) are required for all team members ascending Mustagh Ata.  Snow shoes may be rented locally, but it is best if you have your own.   These slopes are crevassed, so all of our team members are expected to be roped above Camp 1.  No solo-climbing will be permitted.

Route finding to Camp 3 at 6,800 meters involves traversing some of the gentlest slopes on the mountain, often below 10 degrees.   It’s a very easy place to snowshoe or ski, but there are many crevasses in this area, so all safety precautions will be used, including ropes and bamboo marker wands.  After a rest and some good food in basecamp, its time to move up to Camp 3 and sleep there.

On Summit Day, we head out of camp early, with our snowshoes or skis and climbing skins.  It takes 4 to 8 hours to reach the summit (7,546 meters) from Camp 3.  The slope begins at 24 degrees, then lessens to 5 degrees.  It is big and wide, with few crevasses.  We will continue to be roped for safety, however.  At the summit, we can look in every direction, toward Pakistan and Rakaposhi, into the K2 area, across to the Tien Shan range, even into Afghanistan.   This is an invigorating place from which to view the planet.  After packing up all of our equipment and rubbish, its time for a careful descent, and we can be back in basecamp in one or two days.

For those who do not reach the summit in the first group, there is time to try again in a few days.  We have designed the schedule so there should be plenty of time for everyone to achieve the summit.

For those who summit quickly, an optional trip to Kashgar is available, at minimal extra cost.  After a 5 to 8 hour bus ride through the Gez river valley beneath the looming flanks of 7,649 meter high Kongur , the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar is reached.  Its time to relax and feast, and shop in the multi-hued bazaars.  This is perhaps the best market town in all of central Asia, and the visitor is exposed to an amazing variety of handicrafts and manufactured goods, including jewelry, knives, shawls, carpets, and hats.  A wide variety of foods can be found here with fresh fruits, vegetables, mutton and beer in abundance.  After a visit to Kashgar, the Mustagh Ata early-summiters will return to Subashi by bus, then rendezvous with the rest of the team for the trip back into Pakistan.

Leaving Subashi, we retrace our steps to Islamabad, and an extra day has been included in case of any delays.

We are able to provide a five percent discount for: