MIKE HORN
Mike Horn is a South African-born Swiss professional explorer and adventurer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa he currently resides in Château d’Oex, Switzerland.
K2
K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori, is the second highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest, at 8,611 metres above sea level .it is located on the China–Pakistan border between Baltistan, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region
Whenever the rest of the world tries to portray a negative and/or down played image of Pakistan, something great happens and immediately improves the image of Pakistan. Something of the same sort happened not many days ago when Mike Horn, the brand ambassador of Mercedes Benz, visited Pakistan.
This is a blog Jessica wrote after my daughters Annika and Jessica traveled with me to the base camp of K2.
After traveling to Pakistan, I’m surprised at how the news has shaped the world’s perception of this country. All we hear and see about focuses on the dark side: the conflicts, tensions, and terrorists. But there are two sides to every story. The brighter side – the one the news omits to tell you – Pakistan is beautiful! I agonize at the thought of not being able to appropriately describe the landscapes that I so desperately tried to keep captive in my mind. Pakistan’s beauty, so annoyingly over-shadowed by all the negative judgment of ignorant beings, deserves to be written about. It’s my duty to stretch my creativity, so that by the end of this blog, you will have fallen in love with the beautiful Pakistan just as I have.
My sister and I set off to Pakistan to support my dad in the fulfillment of his childhood dream: to summit K2, the Mountain of Mountains, without any oxygen or assistance. We trekked for a week up the Baltoro Glacier to reach base camp – the point of return for my sister and I, but only the departure of my dad’s ascent. Quick little fun fact: Pakistan is the home of some of the highest peaks in the world! For mountaineers and adventurers like my father, the Karakoram mountain range acts like a magnetic force that none of them can resist. It is a real paradise for the mountain-addicts of this world.
And a paradise it is! The Baltoro Glacier makes its way through an endless parade of majestic 8,000-meter peaks. The scenery is breathtaking, and the grandeur of these natural wonders is unparalleled. Standing high above me, it was like the summits were watching my every move; I felt intimated. I also felt like I was dreaming, but I wasn’t. The wilderness, so perfectly untouched, looked like it was intricately designed and created by mankind to illustrate what we believe is utopia – the perfect harmony between human and nature. And yet there I was, right in the middle of it.
