News from the Swat Project expeditions
The 16 trekkers who took part in the 2023 edition of the Swat Project have returned to Europe from Pakistan. The project was initiated and led by Mountain Wilderness International with the aim of publishing a guidebook of the mountains and valleys of this fascinating area, which is part of the high mountain Hindu-Kush Himalayan region of Pakistan, with a view to establishing a vast protected mountain area. In a week’s time, the Catalan and Italian mountaineers who were planning to ascend the last virgin peak in that area will also return home.
Participants have also visited the major Buddhist monuments (dating back to a period between the 1st and the 5th century AD) hidden in the side valleys of lower Swat. All participants were enthusiastic about their experience, even though some of the high-altitude routes had to be changed, mostly due to glacier conditions that were considered too uncertain and challenging.
Two documentaries (in Italian and German) were filmed along the routes, which should then converge into a single documentary aimed at disseminating the meaning and relevance of the initiative in terms of culture, nature protection and mountaineering.
Carlo Alberto (Betto) Pinelli, in charge of MW International Asian Desk, seized the opportunity to make agreements with two colleges in central Swat to organise a second introductory course to outdoor activities for local girls only, in the wake of the unhoped-for success of the first one, held in 2022. The second edition of the course will take place February 2024.
Further details will follow soon!
