Why Broad Peak is famous
At 8,051 m (an older survey gave 8,047 m) Broad Peak is the twelfth-highest mountain in the world and one of the four eight-thousanders of the Karakoram. Its position makes it famous: it stands about 8 km from K2, separated from it only by the Godwin-Austen Glacier, and every trekker who reaches Concordia sees the two side by side. Some climbers have used it to acclimatise for K2, which shares the same approach.
It is also known for its shape. The summit is not a point but a ridge more than 1.5 km long with three tops above 8,000 m: the main summit (8,051 m), the Rocky Summit or forepeak (8,028–8,030 m) and Broad Peak Central (8,011 m), plus the North Summit (about 7,490–7,550 m). Broad Peak Central is so distinct that some people once argued it should count as a fifteenth eight-thousander, but its col with the main summit does not drop below about 7,800 m, too little for an independent mountain.
Broad Peak has never been the deadliest eight-thousander, but its mix of relative accessibility and objective danger has produced a steady death toll. By the end of 2009 there had been 385 ascents and 24 deaths. On 30 July 2026 a single avalanche killed ten climbers, the worst disaster in the mountain's history.
Where it is and the forepeak problem
The mountain lies in the Baltoro Muztagh of the Karakoram on the border between Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and Xinjiang, China; the main Karakoram ridge, and with it the border, runs over the main and central summits. To the south it joins the Gasherbrum group, to the north-east the ridge continues to Kharut Kangri (about 6,950 m). Windy Gap, a 6,111 m pass east of K2, lies between Broad Peak and Skyang Kangri.
The forepeak issue is what every Broad Peak climber hears about. On the normal route from the west, climbers reach the col between the central and main summits and then the summit ridge, where the first high point is the Rocky Summit at about 8,030 m. From there the main summit is still a long traverse along an icy, corniced ridge, and oddly each top looks lower than the other when you stand on it. For a recognised ascent you have to complete that ridge. The first ascensionists met the problem themselves: on 29 May 1957 Wintersteller and Diemberger reached the forepeak, realised the highest point was farther on, went down and returned on 9 June. In 2009 the Italian Cristina Castagna reached the forepeak in poor weather and died in a fall on the descent at about 7,800 m.
How to get there
The approach is the classic K2 trek. Expeditions fly from Islamabad to Skardu (about 2,230 m) in about an hour when the weather allows, or drive up to 36 hours. Jeeps take about six hours on to Askole (about 3,050 m); since a new bridge opened in 2025 most groups drive on to Jhola (3,200 m) and start walking there. The trail follows the Braldu River and the Baltoro Glacier via Paiju (3,450 m), Urdukas (about 3,990 m) and Goro II (about 4,380 m) to Concordia (about 4,600–4,700 m), the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers. Broad Peak Base Camp lies farther up the Godwin-Austen Glacier at about 4,800 m, between Concordia and K2 Base Camp (about 5,000 m). The round trip from Skardu to K2 Base Camp takes 10–16 days and covers about 180 km, so trekkers on that route walk right past Broad Peak's base camp.
The normal route
Almost everyone climbs the route of the first ascent: the West Spur from the Godwin-Austen Glacier to the col and then the north ridge to the summit. By early 2009, 374 of the 385 summiteers had used it. The route rises through a series of camps; Camp 3 is at about 6,950–7,000 m and Camp 4 at about 7,400 m. The slope between Camp 2 and Camp 3, around 6,600 m, is notorious avalanche terrain that loads up after storms; that is where the 2026 disaster happened, and in 1997 an avalanche killed two climbers descending between Camp 3 and Camp 2. From Camp 4 the summit day climbs to the col at about 7,800 m and continues along the ridge over the Rocky Summit to the main top, then back down the same way. Most deaths on Broad Peak have happened on the descent, when tired climbers are on the long, exposed ridge.
Commercial teams, mostly Nepali and Pakistani, fix ropes to Camp 2 and higher before clients move up. In 2026 the Pakistani operator Karakorum Expeditions announced a more direct line from Camp 4 to the Rocky Summit. Speed climbers show what is possible for the very fittest: on 19 July 2022 the Frenchman Benjamin Védrines climbed from base camp to the summit in 7 hours 28 minutes without supplemental oxygen.
Permits, costs and rules
Foreigners need an expedition permit with a royalty per climber, issued by the Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department through a licensed Pakistani operator, which also supplies the letter for the visa (allow about four weeks) and pays the Central Karakoram National Park fee. Trekkers may not walk the Baltoro independently: an approved guide is required. The royalty system was raised steeply in late 2024 and cut back in May 2025 — the summer fee for K2, for example, went from US$5,000 to US$3,500 — so ask your operator for the current Broad Peak rate. Expeditions also insure their porters and high-altitude staff. Helicopter rescue is provided only by the Pakistani military and costs about US$13,000–15,000; check your insurance.
When to go and weather
Most ascents are made in July, although the first ascent came in early June. In 2026 Karakorum Expeditions' team led by Mirza Ali reached the Rocky Summit earlier in the season; heavy snow fell for days before 30 July, and some climbers who judged the slopes dangerous went home. Because the Karakoram lies farther north than the Nepal Himalaya, the monsoon is weaker here, but conditions are colder and storms can last several days. Winter is extreme: the first winter ascent came only in 2013. The trek is possible from June to September and best in July and August.
Water
Water is never far away on the Baltoro, but it is glacial meltwater collected from streams fouled by animals and campsites. Infectious diarrhoea is the most common illness on the trek, so boil water properly or use a filter and tablets, and carry rehydration salts. Jhola, Paiju and Urdukas have toilets and washing water; Concordia has toilets; Broad Peak Base Camp has very few facilities. On organised treks cooks boil the drinking water; carry about two litres between camps. Glacier streams near base camp are dangerous too: two climbers have drowned in streams near Broad Peak Base Camp, in 1985 and 2013. On the mountain all water comes from melted snow.
Mobile coverage and internet
Skardu has mobile networks and Wi-Fi in hotels and cafés, but once you leave the road head there is no reliable signal. On the Baltoro and at base camp teams use satellite phones and satellite messengers, and the climbers caught in 2026 carried satellite GPS trackers that showed where they fell. The authorities sometimes limit communications in this border area. Emergency numbers in Pakistan are 1122 (rescue and ambulance) and 15 (police); in practice your operator, the Alpine Club of Pakistan and army helicopters coordinate rescues here.
Altitude, dangers and safety
The dangers fall into clear groups. Avalanches sweep the lower and middle mountain, especially between Camp 2 and Camp 3 after snowfall. Falls claim exhausted climbers on the corniced summit ridge, mostly on the descent. Exhaustion and altitude illness above 7,500 m killed the Austrian Markus Kronthaler in 2006 after he reached the summit; his brother recovered his body from 7,900 m a year later. Climbers also disappear in storms: in March 2013, during the first winter ascent, Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski never returned to Camp 4, and in July 2013 three Iranians who had opened a new route on the south-west face vanished on the way down. Rockfall has killed climbers too. For trekkers the risks are the altitude (base camp at about 4,800 m; gain no more than about 400 m of sleeping altitude a day), unstable trail sections and stomach infections.
The 2026 avalanche
At about 9:30 am on 30 July 2026 an avalanche hit ten climbers on their way from Camp 2 to Camp 3 at about 6,600 m and swept them several hundred metres down the mountain; GPS data showed that Nirmal Purja fell about 800 m. All ten died: Purja, the Pakistani guide Sohail Sakhi, the American Mallory Geis, Nadhira Al Harthy of Oman (the first Omani woman on Everest), the Chinese climber Wang Zhong and the Nepalis Pur Bahadur Gurung, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and Gyalu Sherpa. Kili Pemba Sherpa had completed all fourteen eight-thousanders on Nanga Parbat less than four weeks earlier. Teams on K2 abandoned their summit plans to join the search, coordinated by the Alpine Club of Pakistan; by 21 August nine bodies had been recovered. Purja, a former British special forces soldier, became famous in 2019 for climbing all fourteen eight-thousanders in about six months and led the first winter ascent of K2 in 2021; at Broad Peak he was trying to become the first person to climb all fourteen three times.
History and name
Conway named the mountain in 1892 with the Breithorn ("broad horn") in the Swiss Alps in mind. The Balti translation Falchan Kangri is not used by local people. Accounts differ on whether the 1856 survey by Thomas Montgomerie gave it a number: some call it K3, others say it was hidden from his view by Masherbrum.
A German expedition under Karl Herrligkoffer reached about 6,900 m in 1954. In 1957 a small Austrian team led by Marcus Schmuck climbed in "Western Alps style", without supplemental oxygen, high-altitude porters or a chain of supported camps — revolutionary at the time. Buhl reached the summit at dusk on 9 June; less than three weeks later, on 27 June, he died on nearby Chogolisa when a cornice broke under him in a storm. In 1975 a Polish team made the first ascent of Broad Peak Central; three of the five summiteers died on the descent. In 1982 Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojciech Kurtyka climbed Broad Peak without a permit while acclimatising for K2 and told Reinhold Messner, who met them coming down, that they had been "in the area"; in 1984 they came back officially and traversed the North, Central and Main summits. Also in 1984 Krzysztof Wielicki made the first one-day ascent of an eight-thousander here, and Kurt Diemberger returned 27 years after his first ascent to stand on top with Julie Tullis. The Pole Krystyna Palmowska was the first woman on the main summit, in 1983. On 5 March 2013 Maciej Berbeka, Adam Bielecki, Tomasz Kowalski and Artur Małek made the first winter ascent.
Interesting facts
- In 2015 Andrzej Bargiel made the first ski descent from the summit.
- In 2016 the Frenchman Antoine Girard flew a paraglider over Broad Peak, the first paraglider flight above an eight-thousand-metre summit.
- In 2019 the Pakistani Shehroze Kashif reached the summit aged 17, the youngest person to do so.
- The Pole Maciej Berbeka reached the Rocky Summit in winter in March 1988, 25 years before he died after the first full winter ascent.
FAQ
How high is Broad Peak? 8,051 m (26,414 ft), the twelfth-highest mountain in the world; older sources give 8,047 m.
What is the forepeak problem? On the normal route you first reach the Rocky Summit (about 8,030 m); the true summit lies at the end of a long, exposed ridge, and a full ascent means reaching it.
How long does it take to climb Broad Peak? Several weeks: the trek from Jhola to base camp takes about a week, then come acclimatisation rotations through Camps 1–3 and a summit push of several days from base camp via Camp 4.
How difficult is it? Not among the most technical eight-thousanders, but serious: avalanche-prone slopes between Camps 2 and 3 and a long, corniced summit ridge where most accidents happen on the descent.
Can trekkers see Broad Peak? Yes. The K2 base camp trek passes Concordia and Broad Peak Base Camp (about 4,800 m); allow 10–16 days from Skardu and back.
Do I need a permit? Yes: climbers need an expedition permit with a royalty through a licensed Pakistani operator; trekkers need an approved guide, a visa letter and the national park fee.
Is there water on the way? Plenty of glacier streams, but the water is contaminated; boil, filter or treat it. On the mountain water comes from melted snow.
Is there mobile coverage? Not beyond the road head; carry a satellite phone or messenger. Emergency numbers are 1122 and 15.
When is the best time to climb? July is the main summit month; after heavy snowfall, wait for the slopes to stabilise before moving up.