22 interesting facts about K2

22 interesting facts about K2

We share the most interesting facts about K2, collected from years of reading, writing and dreaming about this infamous mountain

Rising from the Baltoro Glacier in the heart of the Karakoram, K2 is one of the most remarkable mountains on earth. Revered in the mountaineering world, the Pyramid Peak is the ultimate challenge for climbers.

The world's best alpinists have tried their hand at its treacherous slopes. Some have conquered the summit, but many have lost their lives.

I recently visited Pakistan for the first time to complete the K2 Base Camp trek, followed by a crossing of the Gondogoro La Pass. The route took me past some of the most beautiful mountains in the world: Trango Towers, Masherbrum, Miter Peak and Laila Peak, to name a few.

Along the way, I read two books about the infamous mountain to supplement the reams of literature I've devoured over the years. From summit records to misleading titles, we examine the most interesting facts about K2, the crown of the Karakoram.

Interesting facts about K2

1. Mit 8.611 m (28.251 ft) ist der K2 der zweithöchste Berg der Erde. Nur der Mount Everest ist mit 8.848 m (29.029 ft) höher – um 237 m (778 ft). (Quelle: Britannica)
2. K2 ist einer der 14 Achttausender, die einzigen Berge der Welt über 8.000 m (26.247 ft). (Quelle: NASA Earth Observatory)
3. Der K2 erhielt seinen Namen, als Thomas George Montgomerie – ein britischer Offizier, der für die Great Trigonometrical Survey of India arbeitete – 1856 einen kleinen Berg in Kaschmir bestieg. Er entdeckte zwei markante Gipfel im Karakorum in einer Entfernung von über 200 km und nannte sie K1 und K2, wobei das „K“ für Karakorum steht. K1 wurde in Masherbrum umbenannt – sein lokaler Name. K2 schien jedoch keinen lokalen Namen zu haben, möglicherweise aufgrund seiner Abgeschiedenheit. (Quelle: The Telegraph)

4. The name Mount Godwin-Austen is occasionally used in honor of Henry Godwin-Austen, an early explorer of the area. The Royal Geographical Society rejected the name, but it was used on numerous maps and can still be seen in places. (Source: CIA World Factbook)

alt=“Interesting facts about the K2 concordia camp”>K2 seen from the Concordia camp

1. Ein anderer häufiger verwendeter Name ist Chogori, abgeleitet von zwei Balti-Wörtern, chhogo (groß) und ri (Berg). Dies kann nur ein Name sein, der von westlichen Entdeckern erfunden wurde, oder möglicherweise eine verwirrte Antwort auf die Frage „Wie heißt das?“. da sich nur sehr wenige Einheimische in die Nähe von K2 gewagt hätten. (Quelle: Curran, Jim. (1989). K2: Triumph and Tragedy. London: Mariner)

2. K2 has been known as the Wild Mountain since George Bell used the term after an expedition in 1953. After nearly sliding to his death on a failed climb, he described it as “a wild mountain that tries to kill you.” Source: Seattle Times)

3. Until recently, K2 was the only eight-thousander that had never been climbed in winter. However, in January 2021, a team of 10 Nepalese mountaineers led by Nimsdai Purja made history with the first winter summit of K2. (Source: BBC News)

4. It is estimated that between one in four or five K2 summiteers dies on the mountain. This is a peak-to-fatality rate of around 22%. On Everest, this rate is estimated at 3%. Annapurna is the only eight-thousander with a higher mortality rate of around 25%. (Source: Alan Arnette)

alt=“Monument on K2 – Interesting facts about K2″>Atlas & BootsA memorial to mountaineers who died on K2

1. Der erste ernsthafte Versuch, den K2 zu besteigen, wurde 1902 von einer englisch-schweizerischen Expedition unternommen. Sie verbrachten 68 Tage auf dem K2 und erreichten eine maximale Höhe von 6.525 m (21.407 Fuß). (Quelle: Conefrey, Mick. (2015). The Ghosts of K2. London: Oneworld)

2. The first ascent of K2 took place on July 31, 1954 by the Italians Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. However, their success was controversial, as the summiteers and other team members accused each other of a series of deceptions on the mountain in the years and decades that followed. This betrayal involved secretly laying camps and siphoning off oxygen in order to reach the summit first. (Source: The Independent)

3. It took 23 years for K2 to be climbed for the second time. In 1977, a joint expedition by Japan and Pakistan reached the summit. The expedition included Ashraf Aman, the first Pakistani to climb K2. (Source: Himalayan Database)

4. As of June 2019, only 379 people had reached the summit of K2. Early reports this year suggest that number may now have risen to over 400, as over 30 people may have climbed the peak in the 2019 season. (Source: CNN and Alan Arnette)

5. The summit of K2 lies on the China-Pakistan border. Pakistan is in the south and China is in the north. (Source: Google Earth)

alt=“Everest vs. K2: Peter in the K2 base camp″>Atlas & BootsK2 lies on the border between Pakistan and China

1. Der K2 wird normalerweise von der pakistanischen Seite aus bestiegen, wo sich sein Basislager auf etwa 5.150 m (16.896 ft) befindet. Die Route verwendet normalerweise eine Reihe von vier Lagern vor dem letzten Aufstieg des Abruzzi-Kamms zum Gipfel. (Quelle: National Geographic)

2. The first woman to climb K2 was Polish mountaineer Wanda Rutkiewicz on June 23, 1986. Rutkiewicz died in 1992 while attempting to climb Kangchenjunga, becoming the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. In October 2019, she was featured in a Google Doodle. (Source: The Independent)

3. In 2004, 65-year-old Spanish mountaineer Carlos Soria Fontán became the oldest person to climb K2. (Source: British Mountaineering Council)

4. The 2008 K2 disaster was the deadliest day in the history of K2 mountaineering. Eleven climbers died in a series of incidents following an ice avalanche that swept away fixed ropes near a bottleneck. (Source: BBC)

alt=“My first view of Broad Peak on the K2 Base Camp Trek”>Atlas & BootsBroad Peak is located near K2

1. The deadliest climbing season on K2 was 1986. A total of 13 climbers died in separate incidents in two weeks. (Source: New York Times)

2. One of the most interesting facts about K2 is that it is flanked by five of the 17 highest mountains in the world. (Source: Viesturs, ed. (2009) K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain. New York: Broadway)

3. K2 is also a member of the seven second peaks; the second highest mountains on any continent. It is generally accepted that climbing the second highest peak on each continent rather than the highest would be a more difficult challenge. (Source: Krakauer, Jon. (1997) Into Thin Air. New York: Villard)

4. The final 2,000-foot (611 m) section of the mountain is known as the “Death Zone.” Above 8,000 m the air is so thin that without additional oxygen it is not enough to sustain human life for long. (Source: BBC)

5. Legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner described K2 as “the mountain of mountains” after making his fourth ascent of the peak in 1979. “It is the most beautiful of all high peaks,” he continued. “An artist made this mountain.” (Source: Outside Magazine)

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