Climate, costs cripple climbing in Pakistan | The Express Tribune

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s famed northern peaks, long a magnet for climbers from across the globe, are facing a near-collapse in foreign arrivals this season.

Unpredictable climate disasters, regional armed conflicts, and sharp fee hikes have combined to slash international visits by nearly 90%, delivering a severe blow to the country’s mountaineering and tourism economy.

The Gilgit-Baltistan region, home to five of the world’s 14 tallest mountains – including K2, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, and Gasherbrum I and II – has seen only 270 foreign climbers attempt expeditions this summer, compared with more than 2,000 last year, according to the Alpine Club of Pakistan.

“Harsh weather conditions, including avalanches, rockfalls, and high winds, forced many expeditions to abandon their attempts and return without summits,” said Karrar Haidri, vice president of the club, which serves as Pakistan’s official mountaineering body.

Climate disasters have been a particular challenge for Pakistan this year, with the country still contending with some of the deadliest floods in its history, which have claimed at least 1,000 lives, swept away villages, submerged farmland, and forced over 2 million people from their homes, mainly in the northeastern Punjab province.

Haidri, however, also emphasized that the drop in arrivals was not just weather-related. “Apart from rains and floods, the recent wars and an increase in climbing fees also contributed to the decline in the number of foreign climbers,” Haidri said, referring to a four-day armed conflict between Pakistan and India in May and the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.

This season, only 40 climbers managed to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, while 25 reached the top of Nanga Parbat, and a handful succeeded on Gasherbrum I, said Haidri.

Local tourism and porters suffer

Gilgit-Baltistan has long been a global destination for mountaineers and trekkers, offering rugged beauty and a unique cultural landscape shaped at the crossroads of Central and South Asia.

The downturn in visitors has devastated the local economy, where tourism is a lifeline. Hotel owners, shopkeepers, transporters, artisans, and even tea stall operators along the Karakoram Highway have seen business dry up.

“This is the first dry season after 2020, when there was a total ban on climbing due to COVID-19. I haven’t joined even a single expedition this year,” said Ashraf Ali Raza Sadpara, one of the region’s most experienced porters who has summited K2 three times.

“Usually, this would be our busiest time. We had to turn down expeditions because of too many offers. But this season has turned into a nightmare,” he said.

Porters – known as sherpas in the Himalayas – are highly skilled in expedition logistics but often face exploitation. With foreign climbers absent, many are now unemployed and struggling to provide for their families.

Domestic tourism has also slumped. Last year, more than 1 million local travelers and 24,000 foreign visitors without climbing permits visited Gilgit-Baltistan.

This year, Haidri said, the decline in both international and domestic arrivals has been “alarming.”

Between promotion and protection

Industry insiders say another major reason for cancellations is the government’s sharp increase in climbing fees. The Gilgit-Baltistan administration doubled the K2 permit fee from $1,750 to $3,500 per climber, while raising fees for other 8,000-meter peaks from $1,000 to $2,500.

“Climbers save money for years to fulfill their dreams. It’s not that they decide today and rush to the mountains. We book them at least a year or two in advance,” said Anwar Syed, an expedition operator based in Islamabad.

“When they learn that their costs have doubled or tripled, many cancel their plans. Regional wars only made the cancellations worse,” he explained, adding that half of his company’s expeditions were scrapped this season.

Iqbal Hussain, director general of the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department, defended the increase, calling it the first fee hike since 1999.

“The decision was made with multiple factors in view, mainly to protect the environment,” Hussain said. “A gradual surge in commercial expeditions has created issues that could be detrimental to the mountains if not contained.”

He emphasized that the rise is partly aimed at curbing the rush on K2, the 8,611-meter “savage mountain” notorious for its deadly terrain. Even in favorable conditions, 86 climbers have lost their lives attempting the peak.

Hussain compared Pakistan’s fees to Nepal, which charges $15,000 for Everest permits. “We are doing our best to promote climbing, but we must also protect the mountains,” he said