Thirty Years on the Ice: A Witness to the Changing Face of the Baltoro

From Clean-Up Expeditions to Climate Chronicles: My Four Treks to K2 Base Camp

By Afzel Scherazi

The Karakoram has been my office, my temple, and my obsession for three decades. The trek to K2 Base Camp via the Baltoro Glacier is a journey I have made four times now—in 1994, 2004, 2010, and again this year. Each pilgrimage was undertaken with a purpose, and together, they have given me a unique and alarming timeline of change in one of the world's most fragile ecosystems.

I did not just come as a trekker; I came as a custodian. This year Academic Alpine Club of Italy and Mountain Wilderness International decided to send a small party to assess the cleaning situation in the Central Karakoram National Park. I from Mountain Wilderness Pakistan and Umberto Maurizo from Italy were the small team for the purpose. The Sella Foundation looked after the finances for the trek and at ground organized by Trango Adventure, Skardu.

1994: The First Clean-Up

As a young man, I led a team for the Adventure Foundation of Pakistan. Our mission was straightforward: to clean the camps en route to K2 BC. The trail was littered with the debris of ambitious expeditions—empty oxygen cylinders, torn tents, and spent fuel canisters. We filled sacks with the refuse of adventure, believing we were restoring the mountain's pristine glory. Back then, the greatest threat seemed to be human carelessness, a problem we thought we could solve with enough will and garbage bags.

2004: Assessing the Human Tide

I returned a decade later, on the golden jubilee of K2's first ascent. The celebrations brought a massive influx of climbers and trekkers. Tasked by Mountain Wilderness International and WWF Italy, my task was to assess the damage from this human heavy flux. The findings were sobering. The problem had evolved from mere litter to a strain on the entire environment. It was a clear sign that with growing popularity, the Baltoro needed sustainable management, not just periodic clean-ups.

2010: Scaling the Clean-Up

Our mission intensified. With the Alpine Club of Pakistan's "Keep K2 Clean" expedition, in collaboration with EvK2CNR, we moved beyond base camp. We targeted the Abruzzi Spur itself, the iconic route to the summit. Our team methodically cleared the leftovers of previous expeditions from the mountain's very flanks. It was grueling, dangerous work, removing the ghosts of climbs past and giving K2 a measure of respect it deserved.

2025: The Most Drastic Change

This year, I returned to survey the state of the clean-up efforts. But the most immediate, shocking change wasn't the litter—it was the glacier itself.

The Baltoro Glacier is collapsing.

My thirty-year perspective leaves no room for doubt. Global warming is not a distant theory here; it is a visceral, dramatic reality.

·     The Vanishing Neighbor: At Khoburtse, the glacier from Lilligo Peak that was a proud, white river joining the Baltoro in 1994, has almost completely vanished. Where there was once a massive flow of ice, now only barren moraine and collapsed, dirty remnants remain, like the grave markers of a dying ice age.

·        A Glacier in Retreat: The traverse from the Baltoro snout towards Lilligo, Khoburtse, and Urdukas now reveals a terrifying sight. The glacier has receded so dramatically that it has pulled away from the main ridgeline. The land underneath is now visible—a raw, uncovered earth that hasn't seen the sun in millennia. This retreat is accelerated by the formation and subsequent bursting of glacial lakes, which further scours and weakens the ice.

A Changing Trail Culture

The human element has shifted too. The hardy porters, the unsung heroes of the Karakoram, are becoming scarce. They have been largely replaced by mule trains. While efficient, each animal carries 100kg of loads and, unfortunately, has become a major source of trail pollution in its own way. The cultural fabric of the trek is changing, and not entirely for the better.

A Call to Action: The Stakes Could Not Be Higher

In short, Pakistan's glaciers are at stake, and the Baltoro is a sheer, heartbreaking example. The Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) and international scientific organizations must act with urgency. The time for periodic clean-ups is over. We need a sustained, scientific, and well-funded effort focused on:

1.    Continuous Monitoring: Establishing permanent research stations to monitor glacier retreat, ice melt, and water flow.

2.    Waste Management Systems: Implementing and enforcing a strict 'pack it in, pack it out' policy for all expeditions, with audits and penalties. This includes human waste.

3.    Sustainable Porter Policies: Supporting the porter community and establishing guidelines for livestock use to minimize their environmental impact.

4.    Global Advocacy: Using the stark evidence from the Baltoro to tell the
world the story of glacial melt. This is a global crisis playing out on our doorstep.

To stand on the Baltoro today is to stand on the front lines of climate change. The throne room of the mountain gods is undergoing a violent transformation. The silence of the peaks is now punctuated by the sound of melting ice and shifting rock. We have cleaned the mountain of its trash; now we must marshal every resource to fight for the very ice it stands upon. The lesson of the last thirty years is clear: if we lose these glaciers, we lose far more than a trekking route—we lose a vital part of our world's ecosystem, our heritage, and our future.