K2 - the savage mountain

Photographer Wolfgang Rattay travelled to northern Pakistan to trek the K2 base camp trail. K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of the ascent.

Geographically, Pakistan is climbers' 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 unspoiled 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 dependant on climbing for income and starving Pakistan's suffering economy of much-needed dollars.

The world's second largest mountain, the 8,611 meter high 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 September 7, 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. [Photo/Agencies]