Abdul Karim is the most famous sherpa in the Karakorum. Born in Hushé, a small village in northern Pakistan, his only chance of earning enough money to survive the harsh winters was by working on expeditions to the country’s highest peaks. He accompanied the greatest climbers of his day, among them Reinhold Messner, Jerzy Kukuczka and Chris Bonnington. Karim used his fame to change the life of his town, which seemed stuck in the Middle Ages. His latest project has been perhaps the most ambitious and revolutionary of all: he has created the first women’s mountaineering team in Baltistan, a country where women rarely have agency of their lives.