krash
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The Throne Room of The Mountain Gods. It was Galen Rowell who first used this term for Concordia. Anyone who knows anything about mountains cannot agree more. It is also known as the trophy room of mountains and the roof of the world. Concordia is the confluence of the Baltoro Glacier and the Godwin-Austen Glacier. It is situated deep in the heart of the Karakorum in the Baltistan district in northern Pakistan. The stats which it posses prove it to be deserved of such a title.
Concordia has, in addition to many 7000 meter peaks, four 8000 meter peaks (out of fourteen in the whole world), namely K2 (second highest in the world at 8,611m. Said to be the most diffibult mountain to climb in the world), Gasherbrum I (8,080m), Broad Peak (8,047m) and Gasherbrum II (8,035m). It has the highest concentration of +5 mile high peaks anywhere in the world. Apart from the eight thousanders it also has other famous peaks such as
Gasherbrum III (7,952m),
Gasherbrum IV (7,925m),
Masherbrum (or K1 at 7,821m),
Chogolisa (7,665m),
Muztagh Tower (7,273m),
Snow Dome (7,160m), Biarchedi (6,781 m),
Mitre Peak (6,010m) to name a few.
These mountains are the most precipitous in the world. They rise too fast, too high. They are often called the 'Stone and Ice Pyramids' and in the photos below you'll see why. Concordia is the amphitheater of the highest mountains in the world.
The Baltoro glacier, which runs through Concordia, is the largest glacier found on earth outside the poles. It is even visible from outer space. Concordia is one of the last remaining truly wild places on the planet. Through out history it has been shut off from the rest of the world mainly due to its remoteness, the treacherous paths leading up to it and the highest mountains in the world surrounding it and cordoning it off. It is so remote and shut off that the peaks surrounding it were not named until the twentieth century. Even today the nine day trek to Concordia from the nearest village, Askole, is considered to be one of the most treacherous in the world. The extreme altitudes added with the terrain make sure that only the most serious and experienced mountaineers try to access it. For many in the world Concordia represents a life long dream not just because of the toughest mountaineering, ice climbing and rock climbing opportunities that it offers but more importantly because of the spectacularly beautiful scenery that it holds.
