Empat alpinis Italia dari Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) — Matteo della Bordella, Mirco Grasso, Luca Ducoli, dan Giacomo Mauri — memulai babak baru eksplorasi musim panas Karakoram 2026 dengan menyasar jalur yang belum pernah ditembus di sisi tenggara K7 (Saraska Peak, 6.934 m), sebuah menara granit teknikal di Lembah Charakusa, Pakistan. Tim ini berangkat dari Italia pada pekan terakhir Mei dan tiba di base camp dalam kondisi yang jauh dari ideal: salju segar setebal 50 cm menutupi seluruh area.

Four Italian alpinists from the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) — Matteo della Bordella, Mirco Grasso, Luca Ducoli, and Giacomo Mauri — have opened a new chapter in the 2026 Karakoram summer season by targeting an unclimbed line on the southeast side of K7 (Saraska Peak, 6,934 m), a technical granite tower in Pakistan's Charakusa Valley. The team left Italy in the last week of May and arrived at base camp to less than ideal conditions: 50cm of fresh snow blanketing the area.

Strategi memulai ekspedisi lebih awal dari musim panas biasanya dipilih dengan pertimbangan kondisi salju dan batuan yang lebih stabil sebelum suhu memanas di bulan-bulan berikutnya. Tim memilih gaya kapsul (capsule style) — pendekatan klasik panjat alpine di mana para pendaki turun ke portaledge saat malam, lalu naik kembali memakai tali fix di pagi hari untuk melanjutkan dari titik terakhir yang dicapai.

The decision to start earlier than the usual summer window was made with the hope of finding more stable snow and rock conditions before temperatures rise later in the season. The team is using capsule style — a classic alpine climbing approach in which climbers rappel down to portaledges at night, then jumar back up fixed ropes the next morning to continue from their high point.

Kemajuan awal sempat menjanjikan. Keempat pendaki berhasil mencapai ketinggian sekitar 6.000 meter di jalur baru pada dinding tenggara, melewati medan campuran (mixed terrain) yang digambarkan sepenuhnya vertikal, sebelum badai memaksa mereka mundur kembali ke base camp untuk menunggu cuaca membaik.

Early progress was promising. The four climbers managed to reach roughly 6,000 meters on the new line on the southeast wall, navigating mixed terrain described as completely vertical, before a storm forced a retreat back to base camp to wait out the weather.

"Ini mimpi besar, tapi kami merasa sudah menyentuhnya dengan ujung jari kami."

"It's a huge dream, but we feel we're touching it with our fingertips."

— Matteo della Bordella, pemimpin tim ekspedisiexpedition team leader

K7 sendiri merupakan salah satu menara granit paling dicari para alpinis di Karakoram, terletak di kompleks pegunungan Masherbrum dan menjadi incaran rute-rute teknikal kelas dunia berkat batuan vertikalnya yang ekstrem. Musim panas ini, fokus ekspedisi-ekspedisi internasional di Pakistan memang lebih banyak tertuju pada rute-rute baru di puncak-puncak menengah dibanding puncak 8.000 meter, mengikuti tren eksplorasi alpine yang menekankan gaya ringan dan kreativitas jalur dibanding sekadar mengejar ketinggian.

K7 is among the most sought-after granite towers for alpinists in the Karakoram, located within the Masherbrum massif and known for world-class technical routes on its extremely vertical rock. This summer, international expeditions in Pakistan have largely shifted focus toward new routes on mid-range peaks rather than the 8,000m giants, reflecting a broader trend in alpine exploration favoring lightweight style and route creativity over altitude alone.

Tim Della Bordella dijadwalkan tetap berada di Pakistan hingga pertengahan Juli, dengan rencana melanjutkan upaya begitu jendela cuaca kembali memungkinkan. Jika berhasil, jalur baru di sisi tenggara K7 ini akan menjadi tambahan penting bagi sejarah pendakian teknikal di Karakoram — kawasan yang terus menjadi laboratorium alami bagi alpinis dunia untuk menguji batas kemampuan di ketinggian menengah dengan tingkat kesulitan tinggi.

The Della Bordella team is scheduled to remain in Pakistan until mid-July, with plans to resume the push once a favorable weather window returns. If successful, this new southeast-side route on K7 would mark a significant addition to the Karakoram's technical climbing history — a region that continues to serve as a natural laboratory for the world's alpinists testing the limits of difficulty at mid-range altitudes.