The five-member team plans to climb a 6,500-meter-high peak in Pakistan’s Shimshal Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan
Tourism in Pakistan is getting back on track as a five member German mountain climbing expedition arrived in the country. They are planning to climb a more than 6,500-meter-high peak in Shimshal Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The recent drop in COVID-19 cases have added confidence for the foreigners to return. The government also lifted restrictions on trekking in Gilgit-Baltistan province.
“Today we leave Karimabad, Hunza, for Shimsal, where we will quarantine in lonely mountains for the next 2 weeks” shared Felix Berg, the German mountaineer who is leading Pakistan’s first high-altitude summer expedition of 2020.
Pakistan has long been a center of mountain climbing hotspot. Home to the 5 of the 14 highest independent peaks including the second highest in the world K-2. There are over a 100 peaks higher than 7,000 meters in Pakistan, it is a mountain trekking paradise.
Karrar Haidri, the Secretary Alpine Club of Pakistan, was upbeat as the mountaineers from overseas return to Pakistan. He said that the things are not getting back to normal. He also expected that more trekkers will soon be arriving in Pakistan.
“A five-member German team led by climber Felix Berg arrived in Pakistan as the country has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases and is gradually returning to normalcy,” Haidri, said in an interview. “More foreigners are expected to arrive in the country in the coming days,” he said, without divulging more details.
Haidri said that during 2019, about 40 expeditions were conducted with over a 100 foreign climbers and trekking groups visiting the country. The pandemic dealt a hard blow to the tourism industry in 2020, he lamented. He is, however, optimistic that tourism will once again pick up the pace.