Baltoro Glacier
The Baltoro Glacier, at over 70 kilometers long, is one of the longest
glaciers outside of the
polar regions. It is located in
Baltistan, in the
Northern Areas of
Pakistan, and runs through part of the
Karakoram mountain range. The
Baltoro Muztagh lies to the north and east of the glacier, while the
Masherbrum Mountains lie to the south. At 8,611 m (28,251 ft),
K2 is the highest mountain in the region, and three others within 20 km top 8,000 m.
The glacier gives rise to the
Shigar River, which is a tributary of the
Indus River. Several large tributary glaciers feed the main Baltoro glacier, including the Godwin Austen Glacier, flowing south from K2; the Abruzzi and the various Gasherbrum Glaciers, flowing from the
Gasherbrum group of peaks; the Vigne Glacier, flowing from
Chogolisa, and the Yermandendu Glacier, flowing from
Masherbrum. The confluence of the main Baltoro Glacier with the Godwin Austen Glacier is known as
Concordia; this location and
K2 base camp are popular
trekking destinations.
The trough of this glacier is very wide and its central part is a vast snowfield. Small valley glaciers form icefalls where they meet the trunk glacier. The sidewalls vary from very steep to precipitous. The glacier has carved striations on the surrounding country rocks. Moving ice has formed depressions, which serve as basins for numerous glacial lakes.
The glacier can be approached via the important Balti town of
Skardu.
A list of notable peaks on or around Baltoro Glacier includes:
*
K2, 2nd highest of the world at 8611m
*
Gasherbrum I, 11th highest of the world at 8,080m.
*
Broad Peak, 12th highest of the world at 8,047m.
*
Gasherbrum II, 13th highest of the world at 8,035m.
*
Gasherbrum III, 7,946m. (Often regarded as a subpeak of Gasherbrum II.)
*
Gasherbrum IV, 17th highest of the world at 7,932m.
*
Masherbrum (K1), 22nd highest of the world at 7,821m.
*
Chogolisa, 36th highest of the world at 7,665m.
*
Muztagh Tower, 7,273m.
*
Snow Dome, 7,160m.
*
Biarchedi, 6,781 m
*
Uli Biaho Tower, 6,417m.
*
Trango Towers, 6,286m. (Their vertical faces are the world's tallest cliffs.)
*
Mitre Peak, 6,010m.
# The other contenders are the Fedchenko Glacier in the
Pamir Mountains and the
Siachen Glacier, which lies southeast of the Baltoro in the Karakoram. Exact lengths are hard to determine and have changed with recent
glacial retreat.
*
Baltoro Muztagh*
Sarpo Laggo Glacier*
Northern Areas*
Eight-thousander*
List of mountains in Pakistan*
List of highest mountainsImage:K2_8611.jpg|K2 (8,611m) from ConcordiaImage:K2-big.jpg|K2 (8,611m)Image:7 15 BroadPeak.jpg|Broad Peak (8,047m) from ConcordiaImage:Masherbrum.jpg|Masherbrum (7,821m)Image:Gasherbrum2.jpg|Gasherbrum II (8,035m)Image:MuztaghTower.jpg|Muztagh Tower (7,273m)Image:Trango_Towers_2.jpg|Trango Towers (6,286m)Image:Trango_Towers_Pakistan.jpg|Trango TowersImage:Uli_Biaho_Tower.jpg|Uli Biaho Tower (6,417m)Image:Mitre_Peak_6025m.jpg|Mitre Peak (6,025m)*
Photos from Concordia by Kelly Cheng
