ISLAMABAD, July 6: More than 60 international mountaineering teams have descended on Pakistan's three mighty mountain ranges to mark the 50th anniversary of the conquest of the world's second highest peak, K2, officials said Tuesday.

The peak straddles Pakistan-China border in the Karakoram Range and is considered to be one of the world's most treacherous mountains, claiming a life for every seven climbers ascending its summit.

"There are 63 expeditions, mostly from Italy, Austria and Germany who have registered for 2004 mountaineering season," tourism ministry spokesman Muhammad Sharif told AFP.

"They are participating in the golden jubilee (celebrations of the first ascent) of K-2 and Nanga Parbat." The three-week official celebrations start in Skardu on Saturday, running until July 31.

"Some 25 to 28 delegations (not climbers) from Germany, Britain, the US, Poland, Nepal and India are attending the celebrations," said Syed Nazimuddin, deputy director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.

The government has slashed fees for mountaineering by half to mark the anniversary. K-2, at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet) high, was first scaled by Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Laccedelli on July 31, 1954.

Mr Laccedelli, now 80, has travelled to Pakistan for the celebrations and on Saturday set off from Skardu to lead a 24-man expedition to the K-2 base camp. Italian mountaineer Agostino Polenza, who scaled K-2 in 1984, is leading an expedition up the mountain's southern face, while a concurrent expedition will tackle it from the Chinese side. They are aiming to meet at the summit.

Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain at 8,125 meters and Pakistan's number two peak, had its 50th anniversary in July last year but celebrations were repeatedly postponed.

Three of the world's biggest mountain ranges, the Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush, merge in northern Pakistan, cradling five of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 meters. Pakistan is also home to 70 per cent of mountains above 7,000 metres. -AFP