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- June 4, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
GILGIT: According to a top government official, almost 1,700 foreign adventure tourists have registered for licenses to climb peaks in Gilgit-Baltistan, with 175 planning to summit K2 this summer. In the meantime, this month marks the beginning of an eight-person team of female climbers from Pakistan and Italy who aim to reach the top of K2, the second-highest peak in the world. Sajid Hussain, deputy secretary of the GB tourism department, told Dawn that adventure travel was flourishing in the area. He said that while the remaining 1,700 international climbers’ applications were being evaluated, a number of them had already received licenses.
“For international climbers, the visa clearance process has also been expedited, and many will apply for a visa on arrival in Pakistan,” he stated. Around 9,000 tourists and more than 2,050 foreign climbers and hikers arrived in the area in the summer of 2023. The authorities of the area received Rs 450 million in climbing permission fees as a result of the tourist inflow.
Four mountain climbers from GB and an equal number from Italy made up the eight-person, all-female K2 expedition team. The Alps mountain range in Italy and the Rattu ski hamlet in GB served as training grounds for the Pakistani climbers. With assistance from the Italian Alpine Club, the expedition is being led by the research-focused organization EvK2CNR in the highlands. Agostino Da Polenza, president of EvK2CNR, will lead the expedition, while Samina Baig, a mountaineer from Pakistan, will lead the ascent. The expedition was recently launched in Italy at a ceremony that was attended by Mr. Polenza, the president of the Alpine Club of Italy, Antonio Montani, Daniela Santanché, and other dignitaries. An EvK2CNR representative informed Dawn that the team will begin the excursion on June 18 following a project launch in Islamabad.