The Braldu River (; ur, ) flows in the

Skardu District The Skardu District ( ur, ) is one of the 10 districts of Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan. The Skardu District is bounded on the east by the Ghanche District, on the south by the Kharmang District, on the west by the Astore District, on ...

Gilgit Baltistan Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The Braldu River joins the Basha Basna River, and together they form the

Shigar River Shigar River ( ur, ) is located in the mountainous Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. The Shigar River is formed from the melted water of the Baltoro Glacier and Biafo Glacier. It flows through the Shigar Valley. The river is tributary to ...

, which is a tributary of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...

Geography

The Braldu River is a long river, that originates from the

Baltoro Glacier __NOTOC__ The Baltoro Glacier ( zh, 巴爾托洛冰川, ), at in length, is one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions.The Fedchenko Glacier in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan is 77 km long, the Siachen Glacier which lies sou ...

and flows to the west where it receives melt waters from the

Biafo Glacier The Biafo Glacier ( ur, ) is a -long glacier situated in the Karakoram mountain range in Shigar district, Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan. Geography Biafo Glacier meets the -long Hispar Glacier at an altitude of at Hispar La to create the wor ...

. The Baltoro Glacier and the Biafo Glacier are among the largest

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 a ...

s outside the

polar region The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by flo ...

s. The Baltoro Glacier give rise to the four

Eight-thousanders 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 ...

mountain peaks, among them is the K2 , the second highest mountain peak of the world. The Biafo Glacier holds the Snow Lake, which is 61 mile (100 km) river of ice, it is among the world's longest continuous glacier systems outside of the polar regions. The Braldu River flows almost eastwards, entirely in the

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gil ...

and forms the Braldu Valley. The most remote settlement in the valley is the village of Askole, situated at the right bank of the Braldu River. Askole serves as the base camp for mountaineering expeditions and trekking to the various glaciers in this Karakoram Range. Many glacier fed streams joins the Braldu River in the Braldu Valley. The Braldu River flows through the towns of Korphe, Shamang, Barjand, Kharwa, Niyil and Tingstun. It merges with the Basha Basna River before Tingstun to form the

at the end of the Braldu Valley. The Basha Basna River originates from the Chogo Lungma and the Sokha Glaciers, flows southeastwards. The Shigar River joins the

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

, from the merger of the Braldu River and the Basha Basna River.

Kayaking

The Braldu River is considered to be a super extreme

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

river. It provides great scope for

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits faci ...

, which is practised during the summer from June to August. The first attempt to kayak the river was made in 1978 by a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

expedition led by Mike Jones. Jones lost his life trying to rescue a team mate, for which he was awarded the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the level required for the Queen's Commendation for Braver ...

(QGM).

Image gallery

Image:Baltoro Downstream.JPG, Downstream end of Baltoro Glacier, with Braldu River emerging from underneath Image:Biafo Glacier 1.jpg, The Braldu River, with the

in the background

References

{{Reflist Himalayas Rivers of Gilgit-Baltistan Indus basin Karakoram Skardu District Rivers of Pakistan