THE EXPEDITION ITINERARY: 

Day 1 Group departs

Day 2 Arrival in Islamabad. 

Day 3 The entire day will be spent in Rawalpindi.

Day 4 Travel by bus over the Karokorum Highway pass to Chiles. Starting in Besham, a small market town, after lunch at the PTDC-Hotel the most impressive part of the drive begins through the dizzying Indus gorge.

Day 5 Visit the wall paintings along the silk road near Chilas. Another varied and interesting eight hour drive past Nanga Parbat to Skardu (2,280 m). 

Day 6 In a half an hour by jeep, the group will reach lake Satpara with its crystal clear water; here the group will go on a half day acclimatization hike which includes a great view of the first mountains in the Karakorum range. 

Day 7 Again by jeep, the group will pass through the charming Shiger Valley pass Dasu to reach the Braldu gorge. Depending on conditions, the street may be passable all the way to Askole, the last village in civilization. Should flooding be a problem, our final destination by jeep may be Thongal (2,885 m)

Days 8 - 13 Our seven day approach trek begins. Over Jhola, Korophon (3,025 m) and Chobolak (3,140 m) the trail leads us first to Paiju along the Braldu (3,370 m), a green oasis; here we can already get a glimpse of the Baltoro glacier and the Trango Towers. At this point, Balti carriers prepare for the long glacier march; Tschapatis (flat bread) is baked ahead in order to stock up, and normally at this occasion a goat is slaughtered. We now enter the 60 kilometer long Baltoro glacier; further stations along the way are called: Khoborsey (3,780 m), Urdukas (4,050 m), Goro I (4,150 m) and, finally, Concordia Place (4,650 m). Suddenly, in front of us, is one of the largest glacier rivers on earth which is over 30 kilometers wide. A few meters further is the gigantic predominate structure of K2 (8611 m) which juts 4,000 altitude meters towards the heavens; then, we can see our destination, Broad Peak (8,047 m). From Concordia Place it is another two hours to reach base camp (4,900 m) on the side morains of the Godwin-Austen-Glacier.

Days 14 and 15 Two rest days have been planned which can be used to set-up base camp and to become better acclimatized.

Days 16 - 42 Twenty-eight days are available for the actual climbing of Broad Peak. For a small team of climbers in a big mountain, carrying all their equipment themselves, pitching their own camps in the classical fashion, and all this done without supplementary oxygen.. It will be fairly hard.

First and foremost, during the first couple of days, the route to Camp one (6,000 m) must set, which, at the end, goes up a 200 meter couloir which sometimes as steep as 50 degrees. Camp two (7,000 m) will be reached by climbing over ice terraces and short rocky out-cropings. Here, as well, there are many exposed passages. Finally, Camp three (7,400 m) will be reached by climbing much less exposed glacier slopes with a few rocky sections; the length of this section is approximately 400 altitude meters. The summit is now in front of us; first through a stepening couloir in the wind-gap between the main and central summit, then across a ridge which is partially exposed at the end; there is very little altitude gain at the end.

Only K2, next to us, is higher; the entire Karakorum range is below us.

After reaching the summit, the camps will be taken down and all the garbage will be transported back to base camp on the way down.

Days 43 - 46 Four days will be needed to return to Skardu via Gondokoro La. Accomodations, as before, in K2 Motel.

Days 47 and 48 Flight back to Rawalpindi. Depending on the weather, it might be necessary to drive back down the Karakorum Highway to Rawalpindi.

Day 49 Debriefing in the Ministry of Tourism and free time in Rawalpindi (or a reserve day in case the flights or drive across the Karakorum delay us).

Day 50 Departure in the morning on a British Airways flight. Arrival in Frankfurt in the evening.