K2 is the second tallest mountain in the world, located in the Karakorum range. It is notoriously difficult to climb, with a high death rate. The mountain has a distinctive pyramid shape and low oxygen levels. It was first surveyed in 1856 and named K2 as the second mountain of the Karakoram range. Climbers refer to it as the Wild Mountain. Only in 1954 did two Italians successfully summit K2, and in 1986, a Polish woman became the first female to climb it. Over 70 climbers have died on K2.
K2 is a mountain in the Karakorum range within the Himalayas. It is the second tallest mountain in the world, after Everest, and while Everest tends to attract more press attention than K2, this mountain is considered infamously difficult to climb by the climbing community, with one of the death rates taller than any mountain peak. Some of the best climbers in the world have attempted K2 and failed, sometimes even dying in the process, and it is widely regarded as the challenge of a lifetime.
This peak straddles the border between China and a section of North Kashmir under the control of Pakistan. The peak is roughly shaped like a pyramid, creating a very distinctive profile, and the mountain is 28,250 feet (8,616 meters) tall. Like other extremely high peaks, the upper reaches of K2 have very low oxygen levels, adding to the difficulty for climbers, and the mountain also experiences highly variable and often capricious weather.
This mountain was first surveyed by Europeans in 1856, when it was nicknamed “K2” to indicate that it was the second mountain of the Karakoram range to be surveyed. By convention, surveyors have tried to find out if the mountain had a local name that could be used on maps, but a widely used local name could not be discovered. The survey crew suggested that the mountain’s remote location may have made it less prominent than Everest, called Chomolungma in Tibetan, and other nearby notable peaks. Therefore, K2 has the dubious distinction of being one of the few mountains in the world to bear a surveyor’s mark.
Some surveyors have suggested naming the peak Mount Godwin-Austen, after a notable British surveyor, but this never caught on. Climbers sometimes refer to K2 as the Wild Mountain, referring to the difficulty and danger involved in climbing it. Indeed, for nearly 100 years after the mountain was surveyed, K2 was deemed impossible to climb; numerous teams made the attempt, but failed to reach the summit.
In 1954, two Italians, Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni, successfully summited K2 in very dangerous conditions. Only in 1986 did Polish Wanda Rutkiewicz earn the honor of being the first woman to successfully climb K2. In fact, some people have suggested that K2 was cursed for women, since so many female climbers had difficulty climbing the mountain, although women weren’t the only ones having problems on K2. During the climbing season in 1986, 13 climbers died on K2 due to bad weather conditions, with another 11 dying during the 2008 climbing season after a serac collapse; in all, over 70 climbers died on the slopes of K2.
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