Mt. K2 with the height 8,616 meters/28,267 is the 2nd highest mountain after Mt. Everest-8848m. It lies on the borderline of Pakistan and China. K2 is counted as the most difficult mountain to climb. Local meaning of K2 is “Chogori”, “THE KING OF MOUNTAINS”
The first successful 8000er, Reinhold Messner’s said “K2 is the mountain of mountains. It is the most impressive but the most difficult peak in the world. K2 has variously been described as the “awesome”, “killer”, “savage” and “the mountain of mountains”.
K2 is regarded as unlucky mountain for women. The first woman to reach K2 summit was the legendary Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz in 1986-june. Over the next 18 years, five female climbers made K2 successful but all 5 were killed. Three died during the descent down on K2 after summit, two others died nearby mountains. The first female K2 climber, Rutkiewicz also died on Mount Kangchenjunga in 1992. The curse was finally broken in 2004 by Edurne Pasaban. She was 31 years old Spanish mountaineer, who remains alive till these day. Ms Edurne Pasaban is the first female climbers to climb all 14*8000m. In 2014, 5 women made successful ascent leaving most historic year of women K2 summit.
Location: Xiangjing,China / Karakoram,Pakistan
First ascent: July 31, 1954 by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli
Expedition: Italian
Summits/Deaths: 354/82
Death Rate after summit: 23.16%
Facts : It’s high, steep, with a high risk for avalanches and rock fall. The weather is often bad and technical. Reinhold Messner said, “Mountain of Mountains”.
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