In September of 2024 I was fortunate to be invited on the Alpine Club Panmah Expedition with the aim of climbing a group of unclimbed 6000m mountains in a remote part of the Karakoram in Pakistan. The trip was truly a once in a lifetime experience and one of the hardest and most humbling things I have been fortunate enough to take part in. The trip leader Tom Davis-Merry writes a fine account of the trip on his blog titled ‘Closer to the Edge: Pakistan 2024’ and I have selected a few paragraphs of his account to share with you:

“Karim and Felix explored to the east of the base camp. They look for a route to establish an advanced camp and access our objectives, only to find the glaciers almost impermeable via our planned approach. Crossing the North Chiring Glacier, they pitch one of the spare basecamp tents before crossing a second glacier to reach a small rocky plateau. Their situation is spectacular. The first climbers to explore this amphitheatre of unclimbed mountains, each over 6000m and rising steeply from a sea of distorted ice and rock. However, any further progress to these peaks by this route is blocked by rearing icefalls flanked by unstable rock and complex unpassable crevasses. The pair return to base camp. It has become apparent that we will not make these objectives on this trip. We don’t have the weather window to reconnoitre an alternative approach. It is time to rethink our plan. After taking a day to rest, Karim and Felix set out again to instead follow the right-hand side of the North Chiring Glacier, this time with their eyes on a snowy peak just below 6000m. Once again, impenetrable icefalls force a retreat, and the exhausted pair return to base camp; it appears the mountains do not want us to be there.

There is one final thing we can try: a possible Alpine ridge line on Pk 5650, a smaller peak on the east flank of an unnamed glacier to the north base camp. Karim, Felix, and I decide to go for it. At 5 am on 25 September, we leave base camp and scramble up a steep field of loose boulders towards a small, isolated glacier which leads to a col below the ridge. This superb vantage point commands a spectacular panorama of our initial objectives and their approach options. Looking out across the North Chiring Glacier, nestled between our peak and the chain of mountains forming the border with China and our earlier hopes, it is now apparent how difficult these areas are to reach. The glacier is more akin to an icefall, with millions of tons of twisting, impenetrable ice, huge crevasses, and so much loose rock flanking the glacier that any attempt to circumvent it would be in vain. Felix and Karim’s efforts over the past few days are immediately put into context, and it’s no surprise they had such a hard time. I am bitterly jealous that I didn’t get to explore this uncharted region of the Karakoram. Surveying our initial objectives, we can now see how all would have been nearly impossible to reach. Each would have been technically demanding or with unjustifiable objective danger, or both.

We continue along a mixed ridge of snow and rock from the col. Classic high Alpine terrain allows Karim and Felix to move together as I solo freely and slightly ahead, weaving a line over snow slopes and through bands of granite. The route culminates in a summit ridge of short granite spires. I go to climb one, but the rock is loose, and the drop precipitates to the glacier several hundred meters below. I return to the relative safety of the ridge, and we continue. We summit before midday to much elation, and Karim surprises us both as he pulls a stove from his pack and brews tea. Titanium mug in hand, Felix and I perch atop a rocky outcrop, saying little as we let the experience sink in. We take a few photos to capture the moment and document the surrounding valleys. We may be the first people to have these panoramas; the Latok group to our west and to our east is the border with China, forming our original set of objectives and a reason to return.”

The trip was expedition was financially supported by the Mount Everest Foundation, Alpine Club Climbing Fund, Austrian Alpine Club (UK), and the Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust. Furthermore, kit was supplied by Mountain Equipment, Precision Fuel & Hydration, MSR, Therm-a-Rest, Platypus Hydration, and Expedition Foods. 

I never thought I would be lucky enough to take part an expedition to the greater ranges, let alone summit an unclimbed peak at 5700m but I guess it shows the wonderful doors that a passion of the outdoors and climbing, started by the outdoor pursuits program at QEH, can take you. Please remember that you don’t need to go all the way to Pakistan to have a great adventure! From Bristol, Scotland and North Wales are only a weekend away, the Alps a short fight and the endless climbing in Avon Gorge on our doorstep. Whatever the adventure is make sure you get out there, do it and always have fun along the way.