Karachi:
The famous spikes in northern Pakistan, a magnet for a long time for climbers around the world, face a collapse close to foreign arrivals this season.
Unpredictable climatic disasters, regional armed conflicts and acute increases have combined to reduce international visits by almost 90%, giving a severe blow to the country’s mountain and tourism economy.
The Gilgit-Baltan region, home of five of the 14 highest mountains in the world, including K2, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I and II, has seen only 270 foreign climbers trying expeditions this summer, compared to more than 2,000 last year, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
“The harsh climatic conditions, including avalanches, rock falls and strong winds, forced many expeditions to abandon their attempts and return without peaks,” said Karrar Haidri, vice president of the club, which serves as the official Pakistan mountaineering body.
Climate disasters have been a particular challenge for Pakistan this year, and the country is still affirmed with some of the most mortal floods in their history, which have charged at least 1,000 lives, swept villages, submerged cultivation land and forced more than 2 million people from their homes, mainly in the Punjab province of the Northeast.
Haidri, however, also emphasized that the fall in arrivals was not only related to the weather. “In addition to the rains and floods, recent wars and an increase in climbing rates also contributed to the decline in the number of foreign climbers,” said Haidri, referring to an armed conflict of four days between Pakistan and India in May and the 12 -day war between Israel and Iran in June.
This season, only 40 climbers achieved Summit K2, the second highest mountain in the world, while 25 reached the top of Nanga Parbat, and a handful of Gasherbrum I, Haidri said.
Local tourism and goalkeepers suffer
Gilgit-Baltistan has long been a global destination for mountaineers and hikers, offering resistant beauty and a unique cultural landscape formed at the crossroads of the center and south of Asia.
The recession in visitors has devastated the local economy, where tourism is a lifeguard. Hotel owners, merchants, transporters, artisans and even tea stall operators along the Karakoram road have seen the businesses dry.
“This is the first dry season after 2020, when there was a total prohibition of climbing due to COVID-19. I have not joined a single expedition this year,” said Ashraf Ali Raza Sadpa, one of the most experienced porters in the region that has sing to K2 at the top of K2 three times.
“Usually, this would be our busiest moment. We had to reject expeditions due to too many offers. But this season it has become a nightmare,” he said.
The goalkeepers, known as Sherpas in the Himalayas, are highly qualified in the logistics of the expedition, but often face exploitation. With absent foreign climbers, many are now unemployed and struggle to keep their families.
Domestic tourism has also collapsed. Last year, more than 1 million local travelers and 24,000 foreign visitors without climbing permits visited Gilgit-Baltistan.
This year, said Haidri, the decrease in international and national arrivals has been “alarming.”
Between promotion and protection
Industry experts say that another important reason for cancellations is the strong increase of the government in climbing rates. The administration of Gilgit-Baltistan doubled the K2 permit rate from $ 1,750 to $ 3,500 per climber, while increasing the rates for other peaks of 8,000 meters from $ 1,000 to $ 2,500.
“The climbers save money for years to fulfill their dreams. It is not that they decide today and rush to the mountains. We reserve them at least a year or two in advance,” said Anwar Syed, an expedition operator based in Islamabad.
“When they find out that their costs have doubled or tripled, many cancel their plans. Regional wars only worse the cancellations,” he explained, adding that half of his company’s expeditions were discarded this season.
Iqbal Hussain, general director of the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department, defended the increase, calling it the first rate increase since 1999.
“The decision was made with multiple factors in sight, mainly to protect the environment,” said Hussain. “A gradual increase in commercial expeditions has created problems that could be harmful to the mountains if it is not contained.”
He stressed that the ascent is destined in part to stop the haste in K2, the “Savage Mountain” of 8,611 meters “known for its deadly terrain. Even in favorable conditions, 86 climbers have lost their lives trying the peak.
Hussain compared Pakistan rates with Nepal, which charges $ 15,000 for Everest permits. “We are doing everything possible to promote climbing, but we must also protect the mountains,” he said
