Conquering the "Savage Mountain"
Porters guide their mules outside the village of Askole in Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2014.
Geographically, Pakistan is a climber's paradise. It rivals Nepal for the number of peaks over 7,000 meters and is home to the world's second tallest mountain, K2, as well as four of the world's 14 summits higher than 8,000 meters.
In more peaceful times, northern Pakistan's unspoilt beauty was a major tourist draw but the potentially lucrative industry has been blighted by years of violence.
The number of expeditions has dwindled, wrecking communities dependent on climbing for income and starving Pakistan's suffering economy of much-needed dollars.
Pakistan
Pakistani boys pose for a picture in the remote mountain village of Askole in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2014.
Pakistan
The feet of porter Ibrahim Sino, 33, are pictured following a 16-day K2 base camp trek, in the village of Askole in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2014.
A local porter receives 700 Pakistani Rupee ($6.80) per day and usually carries 55 lbs of equipment.
Pakistan
Porters check the weight of a load during a K2 Base Camp trek near the resting point of Paju in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 10, 2014.
Pakistan
A trekking group walks over a rope bridge across the Braldu River in the Karakoram mountain range near the village of Askole in Pakistan, Aug. 27, 2014.
Pakistan
Porters carry live chickens, for meat, during a K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2014.
Pakistan
A porter carries his load as he walks along a glacial river during a K2 base camp trek, near the resting point of Paju in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 10, 2014.
Pakistan
A young porter plays with a helicopter he made from plastic bottles, and which is powered by a water-jet of melting glacial water, at Khoburtse along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 9, 2014.
Pakistan
Shukrullah Baig, a 52-year-old brick layer and former hotel cook, prepares vegetable masala on a kerosene burner in the village of Askole in the Karakoram mountain range in northern Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2014.
Pakistan
Tents stand under dark rain clouds in the valley of the river Braldu at Bardoumal near the Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aug. 30, 2014.
Pakistan
Names of porters and members of a recent K2 trekking tour are written on a glacial stone along the K2 base camp trek near Korophong in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2014.
Pakistan
A man from the village of Askole carries firewood in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2014.
Pakistan
A local farmer drives his mules down the rock-covered Baltoro glacier near Urdokas along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 2, 2014.
Pakistan
A trekker stands in the valley of the Braldu River at Bardoumal along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aug. 29, 2014.
Pakistan
Mountain guide Mujeeb Ur-Rahman, 38, receives a haircut from cook Shukrullah Baig, 52, at Bardoumal along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Aug. 29, 2014.
Pakistan
A mule, which died during a previous K2 base camp trek, lies on the stone-covered Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 9, 2014.
A mule can costs between 120,000 and 150,000 Pakistani Rupees (around $1,100 - $1,400) and earns around $20 per working day for its owner.
Pakistan
A mule drinks from a basin at a washing place for porters and trekkers at Khoburtse along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range, in Pakistan, Sept. 1, 2014.
Pakistan
A group of Pakistani soldiers carry their guns uphill along the K2 base camp trek in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 8, 2014.
While other parts of Pakistan and northern India were flooded, Concordia in the Karakoram mountain range was covered with a seasonally unusual amount of snow.
Pakistan
Porters make their way through deep snow on the Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in northern Pakistan, Sept. 8, 2014.
Pakistan
A group of Japanese trekkers climbs the rock-covered Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 3, 2014.
Pakistan
The moon illuminates the snow-covered Concordia, the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers, near the world's second highest mountain the K2 (8,000 meters) in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 6, 2014.
Pakistan
Shukrullah Baig, a 52-year-old brick layer and former cook, prepares chapati in the village of Askole in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 12, 2014.
Pakistan
A porter leaves the snow-covered Concordia, the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers, wearing self-made gaiters near K2 in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 6, 2014.
Pakistan
Porters talk with guides Altaf Hussain (2nd R) and Mujeeb Ur-Rahman (C) in the village of Askole in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2014.
Pakistan
A porter guides his trekking client, 26-year-old Yvonne Yip from Hong Kong, down the Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Septe. 7, 2014.
Pakistan
A German trekker removes snow from a kitchen tent at Concordia, the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers, near the world's second highest mountain K2 in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 5, 2014.
Pakistan
Trekkers and porters hike down the Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 7, 2014.
Pakistan
The world's second largest mountain, K2 (seen in the distance), and the 8,051-meter-high Broad Peak (R), are illuminated by the moon at Concordia, the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers, in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan, Sept. 7, 2014.