K2 Base Camp Trek 2026 from Lahore

This is one of the best treks in the world. From Askole, the last village in the Braldu valley, the route climbs past Paiju onto the Baltoro Glacier and follows it east for days, between the Trango Towers, Masherbrum and the Gasherbrums, to Concordia, the meeting point of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers. Climbers call Concordia the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods. From there, K2 Base Camp is a day out and back.

The trek is long and hard on the feet, but it is not a climb: there are no ropes or technical sections on the way to K2 Base Camp. The real tests are the moraine, the altitude and the length. You walk for 6 to 8 hours on most days, spend several nights above 4,500 m, and live in tents for about two weeks.

The Baltoro Glacier

The Baltoro is about 63 km long and covered for most of its length in rock and gravel, so you walk on stones over ice rather than on clean snow. The path rises and falls over the moraine ridges, with streams to cross and some days on the clean ice near the centre. Porters from Baltistan carry the loads, up to 25 kg each, and know the route better than anyone.

Every K2 trek we plan is private, for your group on your dates. We arrange the transport from Lahore, hotels in Skardu, the jeep to the roadhead, a licensed guide, cook, porters, tents and food on the trail, and the permits. You carry a day pack; the porters carry the rest.

You can travel to Skardu by road from Lahore with a night in Islamabad and Chilas, as in the itinerary below, or fly. PIA runs direct flights from Lahore to Skardu, and Islamabad to Skardu is about an hour, but all Skardu flights depend on the weather, so keep a spare day at each end.

• ◆Start: Lahore, Islamabad or Skardu, on your dates
• ◆Team: licensed guide, cook, kitchen staff and porters
• ◆Nights: about 13 in tents and 7 in hotels or guesthouses
• ◆Permits: applied for by us; you send passport or CNIC copies
• ◆Booking: a 30% advance, the rest before departure

• Contact us for dates
• Terms and conditions

This is the 21 day plan we use as the base for the trek, going out and back the same way. Altitudes are approximate, and camps can move a day either way with the weather, the porters and how the group is acclimatising.

Paiju, Urdukas and Concordia

Paiju is the last camp before the Baltoro, set high above the valley with wide views. Urdukas is a grassy slope above the glacier, used as a camp by the Duke of the Abruzzi's expedition in 1909, and one of the best viewpoints on the trek. At Goro II the camp is cold, with Muztagh Tower (7,273 m) in view. Concordia, for many trekkers, is the goal of a lifetime: K2, Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums stand around one wide junction of ice.

K2 Base Camp is lower than the 5,400 m often quoted, and the high point of the trek is the base camp itself unless you cross the Gondogoro La.

The classic route returns down the Baltoro the way it came. There are two main ways to change it: cross the Gondogoro La to Hushe instead of walking back, or add side trips from Concordia.

Broad Peak Base Camp and the Gilkey Memorial

On the K2 Base Camp day, many groups also walk to Broad Peak Base Camp and the Gilkey Memorial, a stone cairn near K2 Base Camp at about 5,230 m, where plaques remember climbers who died on the mountain. With all three, the round trip from Concordia takes 10 to 12 hours. Gasherbrum Base Camp, further up the glacier, needs extra days.

The Karakoram runs about 500 km across Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh and Xinjiang and has the densest group of 8,000 m peaks on earth. The name is Turkic for "black gravel", first used by traders for the Karakoram Pass. Four of the world's fourteen 8,000 m peaks stand around the Baltoro, and between a quarter and a half of the range is under ice.

In the 1850s Thomas Montgomerie of the Survey of India numbered the high peaks he could see from Haramukh in Kashmir: K1 was Masherbrum, K3 Broad Peak, K4 Gasherbrum II and K5 Gasherbrum I. K2 is the only one still known mainly by its survey name.

The season runs from mid June to mid September, and July and August are the safest months, with the most settled weather and the Gondogoro La ropes in place. June can have snow on the upper Baltoro, and snow is possible again from late August into September. Outside the season the high camps are under snow and we do not plan the trek.

Driving to Skardu over Babusar Pass works only from about June to October; when it is closed we go through Besham, which adds time. Flights to Skardu run all year but are often cancelled in bad weather.

The trek is strenuous but needs no climbing experience as far as K2 Base Camp. Most days are 6 to 8 hours of walking over loose, uneven moraine, and you sleep above 4,500 m for several nights at Goro and Concordia. The rest day at Paiju and the slow climb up the glacier are there for acclimatisation, so do not rush them.

Train for it: long hill walks with a loaded pack, stairs, and a few overnight hikes in the months before. If you have a heart or lung condition, see your doctor before you book. Headaches, sickness and breathlessness at rest are signs of altitude sickness; tell your guide, and go down if they get worse. The Gondogoro La adds a technical, high crossing and is for fit, experienced trekkers only.

What a day on the Baltoro is like

Mornings start early, before the sun softens the ice and the streams rise. You walk at your own pace with the guide, stop for a packed lunch, and reach camp in the afternoon, where the kitchen tent has tea ready. Evenings are cold from Urdukas onwards. There is no phone signal on the glacier; groups carry a satellite phone for emergencies.

The Baltoro is in a restricted zone and inside the Central Karakoram National Park, so the trek needs paperwork, and we arrange it. In September 2024 Gilgit-Baltistan raised the foreign trekking permit to USD 300 per person in summer, but the Chief Court suspended the increase in March 2025. In late 2026 operators were quoting about USD 150 per foreigner in summer and USD 75 in autumn and winter, plus a Central Karakoram National Park fee of about USD 190. Pakistanis pay the park fee at a much lower local rate. We confirm the exact figures in your quote.

Gilgit-Baltistan is revising its trekking rules, first set in 1999, after recent accidents on the Karakoram peaks. We confirm the rules in force for your dates before we take a booking.

• ◆Foreigners: a trekking visa with a letter from a licensed operator, which takes about 4 weeks
• ◆Foreigners: a restricted-zone trekking permit for the named route, applied for by us
• ◆Foreigners: a licensed guide is required on the trek
• ◆Everyone: Central Karakoram National Park fees, at local rates for Pakistanis; foreigners also pay a Gilgit-Baltistan permit fee
• ◆Pakistanis: no visa, register at the Askole checkpoint; a guide and porters are strongly advised
• ◆Everyone: insurance that covers helicopter rescue, or a rescue deposit

We quote each K2 trek for your group and dates. To give a sense of the market, published prices for a full guided trek from Islamabad or Skardu run from about US$1,500 to 3,500 per person with Pakistani operators, and about US$7,700 to 9,500 with Western companies. Pakistani operators usually bill Pakistani trekkers in rupees.

What moves the price: group size, flying or driving to Skardu, the Gondogoro La option, and the standard of camp. On top of the trek itself, budget for insurance with helicopter cover, tips for the guide, cook and porters, and an extra night or two in Skardu if flights or the weather cause delays.

Nights at Concordia drop well below freezing even in July, and days on the glacier can be hot. Porters carry your main bag, usually kept to a set weight; you carry water, snacks and layers for the day.

• ◆A four-season sleeping bag and a down jacket
• ◆Broken-in trekking boots, gaiters and camp shoes
• ◆Waterproof jacket and trousers, fleece and thermal layers
• ◆Sun hat, warm hat, gloves, glacier sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen
• ◆Trekking poles and a 30 to 40 litre day pack
• ◆Water bottles, purification tablets and snacks
• ◆A headtorch, power bank and your own medicines
• ◆Crampons and a harness if crossing the Gondogoro La

• Terms and conditions