Hispar La
Overview
An eighteen-day trek up the Hispar glacier to the Hispar La, the pass at the watershed between the Hispar and the Biafo. It reaches the high point of the great traverse and comes back the same way, which is a shorter and more flexible trip than committing to the full crossing.
Why do it this way
The full Biafo–Hispar traverse is three weeks of commitment with no exit once you are on the ice. Walking in from the Hispar side and returning the same way keeps the option of turning back at any point, which matters on ground where the weather decides more than the schedule does. You see the same pass and most of the same glacier.
The ground
The Hispar is one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions and the walking on it is relentless — crevassed in places, roped for days at a time, with side glaciers coming in from the north that have to be crossed rather than avoided. This is a serious glacier trek and we grade it accordingly.
When it runs
June to September, and the window is set by the snow bridges over the crevasses: too early and they are not formed, too late and they are no longer trustworthy.
What is inside the price
Permits and fees, transport on our own vehicles to Hispar village, full camp with cook and mess, a porter crew under our published porter charter with loads weighed in front of you, guides on our payroll with rope and glacier hardware for the group, satellite comms from the moment the signal stops, and a written evacuation plan for every camp on the ice. For a long glacier without the crevassing, Spantik Base Camp is the gentler trip. See the rest of Hispar and Biafo and our other Karakoram treks.
- Duration
- 15 – 18 days
- Trek days
- 11
- Maximum altitude
- 5,150 m [confirm]
- Grade
- Very hard
- Group size
- Max 8
- Guides
- 2 certified, 1 WFR
- Season
- June – September
- Starts / ends
- Gilgit / Gilgit
- Accommodation
- Hotels either side, full camp on the glacier
- The Hispar La, at the watershed of two of the longest glaciers outside the poles
- In and out from the Hispar side, so turning back stays an option throughout
- Roped glacier travel for days at a time, with crevasse rescue practised before it is needed
- Side glaciers coming in from the north that are crossed rather than avoided
- Three weeks' worth of scenery in eighteen days, without the full traverse's commitment
Private departures and group pricing
Your party, your dates. The per-person figure falls as the party grows, because the guides, the vehicles and the camp cost the same split more ways. Everything in the inclusions list applies, and the safety standard is the one published above.
| Party size | Price per person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | USD 4,250 | A full crew for two people |
| 3 – 4 | USD 3,550 | |
| 5 – 8 | USD 2,950 | Second guide joins at six |
Deposit is 25% of the trip price. The payment schedule and the cancellation terms are published and sent with every quote, before you pay anything.
Day by day
Buffer days are built in, not padding. If the weather takes them, nothing downstream collapses and you are not charged twice.
01 Arrive Gilgit Hotel
Met at the airport or off the highway. Briefing, SIM and cash.
02 Gilgit to Hispar village Camp
Up through Nagar to the roadhead. Crew and loads meet us here.
03 Hispar to Hispar glacier snout Camp
Onto the ice. The surface changes and the pace halves.
04 Up the Hispar Camp
Three days of glacier walking, roped where the ground calls for it.
07 Rope and crevasse rescue day Camp
Technique practised properly before the crevassed sections, not after.
09 To Khani Basa Camp
Side glaciers coming in from the north, crossed rather than avoided.
11 To Hispar La Camp · 5,150 m
The watershed, with Snow Lake opening out to the east. The high point of the trek.
12 At the pass Camp · 5,150 m
A day held at the watershed, for weather and for the view down both glaciers.
13 Back down the Hispar Camp
The return, quicker than the way up and on tired legs.
16 To Hispar village Camp
Off the ice and out to the roadhead. Crew settlement.
17 Hispar to Gilgit Hotel
Out by jeep. Kit return and debrief.
18 Gilgit, and onward —
By air or road, with buffer, and on to whatever comes next.
What is included
- Visa sponsor letter
- All permits, park fees and NOCs
- Met inside the terminal, all transfers
- Our own 4x4s and drivers
- Certified guides and insured crew
- Camp equipment, cook and all meals on trek
- Porter crew under our published charter, loads weighed
- Medical kit, oxygen where the route calls for it
- Satellite comms and a daily message home
- International flights
- Visa fee itself
- Travel insurance covering evacuation and repatriation
- Personal equipment
- Tips
If our price is wrong for you we will move you to a lower tier or remove a named inclusion. We do not discount a published price, and we do not cut the crew.
Fitness and difficulty — read this honestly
Eleven walking days, six to eight hours on the longer ones, much of it roped on crevassed glacier. Walking tied to other people is more tiring than walking alone, and the surface gives nothing back.
This is not a first Karakoram trek and we will say no if it would be your first. You need previous multi-day experience, competence on a rope, and the fitness to keep going on the day the weather closes in and there is nothing to look at. The one thing it has over the full Biafo–Hispar traverse is that you can turn round — on the traverse, once you are committed, there is no short way off the ice.
Kit list
The full list with quantities is sent with your quote. Rental is available in Skardu for most of it, priced separately. Your kit is checked item by item in Islamabad, not the night before the trek.
Group — we provide
- Sleeping, mess, kitchen and toilet tents
- Group first aid and the medical kit
- Satellite phone and messenger
- All cooking and camp equipment
Personal — yours
- Sleeping bag rated to −15 °C or better
- Insulated jacket and waterproof shell
- Walking boots, worn in before you arrive
- Trekking poles
- Sun hat, glacier glasses and high-factor sunscreen
- Headtorch with spare batteries
- Water bottles or bladder, two litres minimum
- Personal medication and a declared medical history
- Harness, two locking carabiners and a prusik loop
- Crampons that fit your boots, fitted before you travel
Safety, evacuation and insurance
Helicopter rescue in the Karakoram is not guaranteed. Weather, altitude, daylight and clearance all decide whether a helicopter flies, so every stage carries a named drive-out or walk-out plan. Your insurance must cover helicopter evacuation and repatriation to the maximum altitude on your itinerary, and we verify the certificate before the trip starts.
A graded medical kit sized to the trip, oxygen, a portable altitude chamber, a satellite phone and a messenger, and a wilderness first responder in the crew.
The lead guide’s decision to turn back is final. Not a guest, not an agent, not this office — whatever has been paid.
Getting there
Islamabad
Met inside the terminal by a member of our team, not a driver with a sign outside it. Briefing the same evening, SIM and cash sorted.
Islamabad to Gilgit
By air when the weather allows, which is the short way and the one that cancels. By road up the Karakoram Highway when it does not — long, reliable, and scenery rather than dead time.
On the ground
Our own vehicles and our own drivers from Gilgit onward.
Questions people actually ask
How is this different from the Biafo–Hispar traverse?
The traverse crosses from one glacier system to the other and takes three weeks with no exit once committed. This walks in from the Hispar side to the pass and comes back the same way — shorter, and turning round stays an option throughout.
How many days is it, and when does it run?
Eighteen door to door, of which eleven are walking. June to September, and the window is set by the snow bridges over the crevasses rather than by temperature.
How fit do I need to be?
Six to eight hours a day for eleven days, much of it roped on crevassed glacier. Walking tied to other people is more tiring than walking alone. Not a first Karakoram trek.
Do I need crevasse-rescue skills?
Not before you arrive — we practise it properly at a camp before the crevassed sections rather than after. You do need to be comfortable moving roped, and we would rather you had done that somewhere before.
How high is the pass?
Around 5,150 m. We have no source for that figure which is not copied between operators, so it prints with a marker until we have a reliable one.
What permits does it need?
A trekking permit, park fees and a registered guide. We obtain all of it and it is in the price. You need a Pakistan visa and we send a sponsor letter within 48 hours of your deposit. Fee schedules were revised recently, so we quote live figures at enquiry.
What does it cost and what moves the price?
Porter stages dominate, because eleven days of food and fuel go onto the ice and the crew is fed walking out as well as in. Then party size, which is capped at eight on roped ground. Deposit is 25 per cent.
Is there any signal?
None beyond Hispar village. We carry a satellite phone and send a message home each evening, and the evacuation plan assumes days rather than hours.
If this one is not quite right
The commonest reason a trip is wrong is that it is too hard or too easy, not that it is in the wrong place.
- A step easier Charakusa valley and K6/K7 Base Camp
You have already chosen the region, which is the harder decision. These run from the same roadhead.
- Hispar & Biafo · Expedition Hispar Muztagh reconnaissance — unclimbed 7,000 m objective