The Godwin-Austen Glacier is a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

in the

Karakoram The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...

range and is close to K2, the second tallest peak on Earth, in

Gilgit–Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

, Pakistan. It is the highest mountain peak in Pakistan. Its confluence with the

Baltoro Glacier __NOTOC__ The Baltoro Glacier ( zh, 巴爾托洛冰川, ), at in length, is List of glaciers#List of longest glaciers on Earth in non-polar regions, one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions.The Fedchenko Glacier in the Pamir Mountai ...

is called Concordia and is a popular trekking destination as it provides views of four of the five

eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no p ...

s in the region. The glacier can be approached via the Balti town of

Skardu , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Gilgit Baltistan#Pakistan , pushpin_label_position ...

. It receives its name from

Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen FRS FZS FRGS MBOU (6 July 1834 – 2 December 1923), known until 1854 as Henry Haversham Austen, was an English topographer, surveyor, naturalist and geologist. He explored the mountai ...

, an early explorer of this region. K2 was originally named Mount Godwin-Austin in his honour.

List of peaks

Peaks near Concordia include: * K2, 2nd highest of the world at 8,611m. *

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I ( ur, ; ), surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the ...

, 11th highest of the world at 8,080m. *

Broad Peak Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, ...

, 12th highest of the world at 8,047m. *

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II ( ur, ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakista ...

, 13th highest of the world at 8,035m. *

Gasherbrum III Gasherbrum III ( ur, گاشر برم -3; ), surveyed as K3a, is a summit in the Gasherbrum massif of the Baltoro Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram on the border between Xinjiang, China and Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It is situated between ...

, 7,946m. (Often regarded as a subpeak of Gasherbrum II.) *

Gasherbrum IV Gasherbrum IV ( ur, گاشر برم -4; ), surveyed as K3, is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan. It is one of the peaks in the Gasherbrum massif. The Gasherbrums are a remote group of peaks located at the n ...

, 17th highest of the world at 7,932m. *

Masherbrum Masherbrum ( ur, ; formerly known as K1) is a mountain located in the Ghanche District, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. At , it is the 22nd highest mountain in the world and the 9th highest in Pakistan. It was the first mapped peak in the K ...

(K1), 22nd highest of the world at 7,821m. *

Chogolisa Chogolisa ( ur, from ''Chogo Ling Sa''; literally "Great Hunt") is a trapezoidal mountain in the Karakoram range in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. It lies near the Baltoro Glacier in the Concordia region, which is home to some of th ...

, 36th highest of the world at 7,665m. *

Muztagh Tower Muztagh Tower ( ur, ), also: Mustagh Tower; ''Muztagh'': ice tower), is a mountain in the Baltoro Muztagh, part of the Karakoram range in Baltistan on the border of the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re ...

, 7,273m. * Snow Dome, 7,160m. *

Biarchedi Biarchedi Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain peak on the south of the Baltoro Glacier in Pakistan. In its southwest is Masherbrum (7,806 m) and in its east is the Mitre Peak (6,010 m). In its northeast is the Biarchedi Glacier that flows north into th ...

, 6,781 m * Mitre Peak, 6,010m.

External links

Photos from Concordia by Kelly Cheng
Glaciers of the Karakoram Glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan {{Pakistan-geo-stub

List of peaks

See also

External links