The Batura Glacier is one of the longest glaciers in the world outside the polar regions, stretching nearly 60 kilometres through the Batura Muztagh massif. Its snout descends to around 2,600 metres above sea level, unusually low for a Karakoram glacier, and can be reached on foot from Passu in a few hours. The scale is hard to comprehend from photographs — you have to walk along the moraine wall and look up to grasp how high the ice rises above you.
The glacier surface is heavily crevassed and moraine-covered, not suited to casual walking without a guide. The walk from Passu to the snout follows the left bank of the Batura River through boulder fields and occasional streams. Hire a guide in Passu — the terrain is complex and routes change as the glacier shifts. Early morning light on the ice walls is exceptional.