Many people wonder why climbing a big mountain takes such a long time. Well, firstly, many high mountains are in remote areas which are difficult to reach by car, by plane or other means of transport. In our case we use the first six days of our tour to get to our starting point Askole in North Pakistan.

Secondly, the trek into base camp can take some time – in our case another six days. This trek also helps the body to slowly acclimatise to higher altitudes. It produces more red blood cells so that the blood can transport oxygen better and compensate for the lower air pressure in higher altitudes. This is important in order to avoid high altitude sickness.

Finally, the climbing of the mountain itself takes a long time. As a rule of thumb, one should only move 300 metres higher per day so that the body can adapt. In practice, this means that we need carry days and rest days before we can move further up the mountain. On a carry day, we climb up to the next camp, leave some equipment, food or gas there, and return down to our last camp to sleep there. This is called the “climb high, sleep low” principle, which helps your body to acclimatize to greater altitudes. Rest days make sure that your body can recreate after a long hike or climb, possibly with heavy loads. They also serve as buffer for bad weather, so in reality rest days are often not planned, but occur when bad weather stops us from continuing our ascent.

In the picture below, I have made a draft what our expedition could look like. This schedule will be adapted on our way, but it shows as an example how often you actually climb up and down before you finally have the chance to reach the summit.

Stay tuned for further updates on mountainpolarbear.com! Departure in t minus 9 days.