ExWeb Lists 2012 Pakistan Climbing Expeditions

The Everest season is barely over and it is already time to look forward to Pakistan and the upcoming climbs in the Karakoram. While the summer season isn't nearly as busy as spring in the Himalaya, it will still be filled with plenty of drama and intrigue as some of the top climbers in the world take on the toughest peaks on the planet. As usual, ExWeb has the definitive list of expeditions and they've begun updating that list to reflect the new season ahead. Most are scheduled to take place in June and July, with Gahserbrum I (8080m/26,509ft) and II (8035m/26,362ft), a well as Broad Peak (8051m/26,414ft) getting the early attention. After that, K2 (8611m/28,251ft) will take center stage with no fewer than three expeditions currently set to take on the toughest climb in the world. Climber Sophie Denis has big plans for the months ahead. Not only is she scheduled for K2 in July, but she'll warm up on Gasherbrum I and II first. She's also stenciled in Shisha Pangma (8013m/26,289ft) for the fall as well, which seems like quite an ambitious scheduled at this point. She'll be joined on K2 by Canadian Al Hancock and a large Korean team as well. Elsewhere, 73-year old Carlos Soria has plans to climb Kangchenjunga (8586m/28,169ft) in September as he continues his quest to nab all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks. In addition to this peak, he'll also attempt Annapurna and Dhaulagiri this year. Interestingly enough, ExWeb also has two expeditions listed for the Trango Towers in July as well, both by Korean teams. One is listed as a "Free Climbing" expedition, which should be quite the challenge to follow. The Towers are made up of some of the most dramatic rock faces you'll find anywhere on the planet and are a difficult mix of high altitude mountaineering and technical rock climbing. The tallest, known as the Great Tower, is 6286 meters (20,623ft) in height, but features a prominence of 800 meters or about 2625ft leading to the top. Of course we'll be following all of these and more once the Karakoram season gets into full swing. The first of these expeditions is scheduled to get underway next week, so stay tuned for updates.