Pastore Peak Expedition (6,209 m)

We meet you at the airport and settle you into the hotel. The expedition briefing, document check and any remaining payments are handled over dinner with your guide.

The hour-long flight north past Nanga Parbat into the heart of the Karakoram — weather permitting, with the Karakoram Highway as the road backup. Hotel in Skardu (2,500 m).

Our staff complete the climbing formalities and documentation in Skardu while you walk up to Kharpocho Fort above the Indus or wander the bazaar. Final gear check and porter loads in the evening.

A long 4x4 day through the Shigar Valley and up the Braldu gorge past Askole, the last village. The road now reaches close to Jhola, so where the jeeps stop depends on its condition that week. First camp.

The first full trekking day, following the milky Braldu river with the Trango group and Cathedral spires rising ahead. Hot, dry walking with a few glacier streams to cross before the green oasis of Paiju (3,420 m).

A planned acclimatisation day. The porters bake bread for the glacier week ahead; you take a short height-gain walk towards Paiju Peak's slopes and rest properly. The last trees for a fortnight.

Onto the Baltoro Glacier at its snout and along the moraine to Khoburse (3,795 m). Constant small ups and downs, with the Trango Towers and Uli Biaho growing ahead all day.

A shorter stage across two side glaciers to Urdukas (3,930 m), the famous grassy balcony a hundred metres above the ice. The evening light on the Trango Towers from this camp is worth the whole walk.

A full day on the open ice along the Baltoro's medial moraine, with Masherbrum (7,821 m) to the south and the Muztagh Tower ahead. Goro II (4,295 m) is the first camp pitched on the glacier itself — and a cold one.

Steadily up the moraine to Concordia (4,691 m), the junction of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers. K2 appears at the head of the valley, with Broad Peak, Gasherbrum IV, Mitre Peak and Chogolisa crowding the skyline.

Up the Godwin-Austen Glacier past Broad Peak Base Camp to the Gilkey Memorial, the rocky outcrop that carries the names of those K2 has kept, and on to K2 Base Camp (5,150 m) itself. We sleep at the foot of the second-highest mountain on earth.

From K2 Base Camp we cross the Godwin-Austen Glacier southeast to Pastore Base Camp (4,800 m), reading a line through the crevasse zones as we go. Camp sits in the triangle between K2 and Broad Peak — the best-addressed base camp in the Karakoram.

The first of three climbing days. Crampon, ice-axe and rope work is taught and rehearsed on the slopes above camp, the route is read and the summit plan set against the forecast. Anyone sitting the climb out has Concordia's amphitheatre for entertainment.

An alpine start and around ten hours of steady snow climbing to the summit. From the top, K2, Broad Peak and the Gasherbrums stand around you at conversational distance — a view few summits anywhere can match. The guide's turnaround call is final.

The third climbing day, held for a second attempt if the weather stole the first, a slower team split, or simple recovery at base camp if the summit is already in your legs.

A separate reserve day at Pastore Base Camp for the weather the Karakoram will eventually throw at any schedule. If it is not needed here, it is carried forward for the Gondogoro La or the flights.

Back across the Godwin-Austen Glacier and down to Concordia (4,691 m), with a last long look at K2 from the throne room of the mountain gods.

A five-to-six-hour stage up the Vigne Glacier to Ali Camp, detouring around the crevasse zones, roped where the snow demands it. The afternoon is spent rehearsing fixed-rope technique for the pass, then an early night.

A 2 a.m. start, roped together to the top of the Gondogoro La (5,585 m) for the sunrise panorama of K2, Broad Peak and both Gasherbrums — then a careful fixed-rope descent on the far side, with the blade of Laila Peak ahead, to Khuspang (4,450 m).

Crampons and ropes are packed away for good as the trail descends past the Gondogoro Glacier into greenery — rhubarb patches, grass and running water down to the sandy camp at Saicho (3,350 m).

A short morning walk brings you to Hushe, home village of many of our guides and porters. Jeeps then carry you down the Hushe Valley, across the Shyok suspension bridge and past Khaplu to Skardu — and the first hot shower in two weeks.

A buffer day protecting the flight connection, spent on Skardu's forts, lakes and bazaar if the schedule has run clean.

The morning flight down the Indus to Islamabad. If weather grounds the planes, we drive to Chilas and complete the journey by road — the contingency the next day exists for exactly this.

Held in reserve for a cancelled Skardu flight. If you are already in Islamabad, the day is yours — Faisal Mosque, the Margalla Hills, or simply a long lunch on a full stomach at low altitude.

Transfer to the airport for your international flight, with a 6,209 m summit, K2 Base Camp and the Gondogoro La behind you. Assalam-o-Alaikum.