K2

For other uses, see K2 (disambiguation).

K2 (also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, Lambha Pahar, Chogori, Kechu or Dapsang) is a mountain in the Karakoram, part of the Himalaya range, on the border between China and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. At 8,611 metres, it ranks as the second highest in the world after Mount Everest (8,850m).

The mountain was first surveyed by a European in 1856. T.G. Montgomery, in the survey team headed by Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, designated it "K2" for the second peak of the Karakoram. Other peaks were originally named K1, K3, K4 and K5 but were eventually renamed to Masherbrum, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I respectively.

K2 is considered a much tougher climb than Mount Everest. As of June 2000, 189 people have made it, compared to almost 1500 who have ascended Everest. 49 people have died attempting the climb, 13 of these in 1986. The first professional attempt to climb it was in 1902 but despite five serious and costly attempts, the summit was not attained until an Italian expedition reached the summit on July 31, 1954. The expedition was led by Ardito Desio and the two climbers who actually reached the top were Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. The team included a Pakistani member, Col. Muhammad Ata-ullah who had also been a part of the earlier 1953 American expedition which failed to make the summit as a result of a storm which also claimed a key climber, Art Gilkey.

The first woman to reach the summit was Wanda Rutkiewicz in 1986. The first five women to reach the summit are all dead (3 of them on the way back). This led to a belief that K2 carries a curse for women.

Books about K2

• Ascent of K2 Second Highest Peak in the World by Ardito Desio
• K2: Triumph and Tragedy by Jim Curran, ISBN 0395485908
• K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain by Jim Curran, ISBN 0898866839
• K2: The Savage Mountain by Charles Houston, ISBN 1885283016
• K2: Quest of the Gods by Ralph Ellis, ISBN 0932813992
• The Last Step: The American Ascent of K2 by Rick Ridgeway, ISBN 0898866324
• K2: One Woman's Quest for the Summit by Heidi Hawkins, ISBN 0792279964

Movies about K2

• Vertical Limit
• K2

See also

• List of mountains in Pakistan

External links

• How high is K2 really? — Measurements in 1996 gave 8614.27±0.6 m a.s.l
• k2climb.net
• Northern Areas Development Gateway
• The Mountain Areas Conservancy Project
• the climbing history of K2 from the first attempt in 1902 until the Italian success in 1954.