The Mountain K 2

Height (feet):  28253

Height (meters): 8612

Range: Central Asia Ranges

SubRange: Karakoram

Country: Pakistan

Continent: Asia

Latitude: 35.8825000

Longitude: 76.5133000

Difficulty: Major Mountain Expedition

Best months for climbing: June, July, August

Year first climbed: 1954

Convenient Center: Skardu, Pakistan

Nearest major airport: Islamabad, Pakistan

K2 is the second highest mountain in the world, and is thinking by many climbers to be the decisive climb. Its huge pyramid peak towers in isolation, 12,000 feet over the extensive Concordia hostile field at the head of the Baltoro Glacier. The pure icy summit is flanked by six evenly steep ridges. Each of its faces presents a labyrinth of precipices and overhangs. 

K2 was long measured unclimbable. Attempts in 1902, 1909, 1934, 1938, 1939 and 1953 all failed. The first successful climb in 1954 started with over 500 porters, 11 climbers, and six scientists. One of the climbers died of pneumonia after 40 days of powerful storms. The final climb was made by a team of two after their oxygen supply had run out, and an crisis crash was made in darkness. 

K2 is the just major mountain in the world which has surveyor's notation as its common name (K stands for Karakoram, 2 means it was the second peak listed). T.G. Montgomery was the inspector who assigned the peak this title in 1856. The mountain's isolation had rendered it imperceptible from any inhabited place, so apart from an infrequent local reference as Chogori (meaning Great Mountain), it had no other name previous to Montgomery's survey. Since that time, the name Mount Godwin-Austen has occasionally been used, in honor of the man who directed the survey. 

For the most part, however, K2 has been the name of choice, and has even evolved into Ketu, the name used by the Balti people who act as porters in the region. Additional information added by Stephen Burke: With admiration to the explanation on the 1954 Italian journey that was the first to summit K2, it has since been established that Compagnoni and Lacedelli did indeed have oxygen until they reached the summit of K2. The myth was dispelled through libel proceedings brought on by climber Walter Bonatti, who had been accused of sabotaging the expedition by keeping the oxygen for himself. The best confirmation available in translated format can be found in the latest edition of The Mountains of My Life by Bonatti, or the short book entitled Trial on K2. It is nominated as one of the natural wonders.