In a quiet season, climbing across the Karakorum is underway, with the first summits of this 2026 summer season on Nanga Parbat. A few teams reached several of Pakistan’s five 8,000-meter peaks.
The tourism department said that 31 mountaineering permits and 39 trekking permits have been issued to foreign visitors so far this summer season. Permit issuance will continue until Aug 1, 2026.
Compared to 2025, these are astonishingly low numbers thus far. Pakistani media, including International News, reports that in 2025, the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department processed 469 mountaineering and trekking visa applications in a single day, marking the highest number of such permits processed in 24 hours. According to officials, the department received 555 applications for mountaineering expeditions in 2025, surpassing the previous year’s total of 423.
I could be mistaken, but I’m not aware of any guide companies other than Nepali and Pakistani running commercial expeditions in the Karakorum this summer. For example, Madison Mountaineering, a mainstay since 2014, is on Peak Lenin this summer, not in Pakistan.
K2
A few teams have arrived at K2 Base Camp, but most are still on the trek. Nepali operators Seven Summits Treks, Elete Expeditions, and 8K Expeditions are climbing K2 again this year. There are multiple Pakistani guides, including Summit Karakorum. Most K2 summits occur at the end of July.
Remember that communication in Pakistan is drastically different from that in Nepal. Cell phone signals are unreliable, so many teams bring expensive satellite connection devices, even though they can sometimes be wonky. Also, since the Northern Territories are adjacent to the disputed area of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the military will sometimes limit communications. The bottom line is that we cannot expect the same type of coverage we can for the Nepal mountains.
And the Other 8000ers
While K2 gets disproportionate attention, the other four deserve equal coverage. The Nepali outfit Seven Summits Treks, aka SST, has commercialized all fourteen of the 8000ers and usually handles the route-finding and rope-fixing.
Nanga Parbat – Summits?
Nanga is more western and southern than Pakistan’s four other 8000ers. It’s in the Himalaya Range, whereas the other Pakistani giants lie in the Karakoram Range. NP usually sees the first summit each year.
Making mountaineering history after climbing Everest alone and descending on skis, then Lhotse in May, Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel made history again on June 30, 2026, by skiing from the summit of Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat to base camp without supplemental oxygen.
He was a fast follower of the rope-fixing team that opened the peak for commercial climbing. The rope-fixing team from Seven Summits Treks included Mingtemba Sherpa (“Mote”), Pasang Dukpa Sherpa, Dawa Rinji Sherpa, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa (“Makpa”), and Pasang Nurbu Sherpa.
The publication Dawn, reports summits on Nanga Parbat:
The Seven Summit Treks expedition team comprised Tao Hu (China), Antonina Samoilova (Ukraine), Mindaugas Satkauskas (Lithuania), Dawa Sherpa, Dendi Sherpa, Lakpa Temba Sherpa (Nepal), and Abbas Ali Mehdi (Pakistan).
Also summiting and finishing his quest for all 14 of the 8000ers was Imagine Nepal’s Kili Pemba Sherpa, who summited on July 3, 2026, along with Lakpa Chhiri Sherpa and Chinese climber Wang Zhong.
8K Expeditions got six on the summit – 3 Japanese with 3 Sherpas: Naoko Watanabe, Keizo Konishi, Saori Eragaki, Pechhumbe Sherpa, Pasdawa Sherpa and Mingma Dorchee Sherpa. Of note, Naoko Watanabe is the first Japanese woman to complete all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks and the first woman in history to summit K2 three times.
Gasherbrum I/II – BC Established
SST has set up base camp. It’s an international environment with climbers from Spain, Austria, France and Italy
Broad Peak – Ready for Summit Push
Karakorum Expeditions provided this update on July 6:
The Karakorum Expeditions team has completed all the necessary preparations for the summit push on Broad Peak. Unfortunately, the weather on July 7 was not favorable, with strong winds and fresh snowfall. For the safety of our team, we have decided to wait for the next good weather window. In the meantime, we are excited to share our ambitious plan: Team Karakorum Expeditions intends to open a more direct route from Camp 4 to the Rocky Summit. This route aims to make the final climb more efficient while showcasing the skills and determination of our Pakistani high-altitude mountain guides. The team is highly motivated, confident, and ready for the next opportunity.
Peak Lenin
Lenin is becoming more popular as an alternative to Aconcagua for climbers seeking experience at 7,000 meters (5,642 meters, 18,510 ft). Mount Elbrus, 7,134 meters/23,405 feet. Located in the Pamir Mountains near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Adventure Consultants and Madison Mountaineering are both running commercial trips this season.
Deaths
There have been two mountaineering deaths this summer. On the 7,282-meter/23,891-feet Pakistan K6, French ski mountaineer Guillaume Pierrel died in an avalanche. And on Russia’s 5,642-meter (18,510 ft) Mount Elbrus, a 34-year-old climber from St. Petersburg died suddenly on July 6 while ascending.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
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A surge of debilitating fatigue overtook me. My shoulders drooped. I stared at my yellow boots, crushed by disappointment. I had trained hard for K2 and tried to anticipate every scenario, but now I was failing, and there was nothing I could do.
Closing my eyes, I was powerless, hopeless, and ready to surrender to the mountain. Everything I wanted—the summit, a safe return, my vow to my mother—was slipping away.
My ice axe fell onto the snow.
Staring at the small yellowish spot illuminated by my headlamp on the snow, it was over, and, oddly, I didn’t care.
It was 12:30 a.m. on July 27, 2014—my fifty-eighth birthday.
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