GUIDE · KARAKORAM

18 JUN 2026

The Gasherbrums:
A Complete Guide to G1 and G2 in the Karakoram

Two of Pakistan's five eight-thousanders, a kilometre apart and a world of difference. The Hidden Peak and the kind twin.

Everyone knows K2. Almost no one knows the two giants standing a few kilometres from its base camp. Gasherbrum I (8,080m) and Gasherbrum II (8,035m) are the eleventh and thirteenth-highest mountains on Earth — two of Pakistan's five eight-thousanders, hiding in plain sight in the Karakoram.

Gasherbrum I: The Hidden Peak

Gasherbrum I was called "Hidden Peak" because its remoteness made it almost invisible to the outside world. First climbed in 1958, it is a serious technical mountain — sustained steep climbing at real altitude, with the famous Japanese Couloir as a crux. It is ranked among the harder eight-thousanders.

Gasherbrum II: The Kind Twin

Gasherbrum II is a different story entirely. The lowest of the eight-thousanders, it is widely considered the most approachable peak in the Karakoram — a glacier climb with a success rate around 50–60%. For many climbers it is the ideal first eight-thousander, and the natural stepping stone toward K2. Compare it to Broad Peak →

Seeing Both at Once

You can see both Gasherbrums — and K2 and Broad Peak — from a single spot: Concordia, the meeting of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers, where four eight-thousanders share one horizon. It is the most concentrated view of extreme altitude on Earth. Plan the walk to Concordia →

“The throne room of the mountain gods.” — Concordia, as trekkers know it