Tucked away in a remote village in Pakistan's northern Hunza valley, close to the border with China, is the Shimshal Mountaineering School that trains its students to scale some of the world's highest peaks.
At 3,100 metres above sea level, Shimshal is the highest settlement in the Hunza valley. The region is so remote that it is connected to the rest of the world by a rough jeep-only road.
The Shimshal Mountaineering School was set up in 2009 with the support of Italian climber Simone Moro.
Women students have spent the last five years learning ice and rock climbing techniques, rescue skills and tourism management. The Shimshal village has produced an average of one mountaineer in every household.
The sport is so loved by the youth of Shimshal that the region has been nicknamed “valley of mountaineers”.
A more liberal attitude towards women has long prevailed in this region as compared to Pakistan’s mostly patriarchal society. Women here are breaking more taboos and training for jobs traditionally done by men.
A narrow, unpaved road winds up the mountain to reach the Shimshal village that has about 250 households.
There is a constant risk of landslides and villagers have to cross wooden bridges and negotiate dangers turns to reach home.
Surprisingly, for a remote village like Shimshal, where there is no running water and electricity is only through solar panels, literacy rate in the village is 98 per cent.
Tourism is the main income of the people of Shimshal.
Young Shimshali girls at the summit the 6,050 meters Mingligh Sar peak.
Images courtesy of Shimshal Mountaineering School/Facebook
