K2 facts for kids

K2
K2, summer 2006
Elevation	8,611 m (28,251 ft) Ranked 2nd
Prominence	4,017 m (13,179 ft) Ranked 22nd
Listing	Eight-thousander Country high point Seven Second Summits Ultra prominent peak
Location
Location	Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan Tashkurgan, Xinjiang, China
Range	Karakoram
Coordinates	35°52′57″N 76°30′48″E
Climbing
First ascent	31 July 1954 Achille Compagnoni Lino Lacedelli
Easiest route	Abruzzi Spur

K2 is the second highest mountain in the world. It is in the Karakoram section of the Himalayas between Pakistan and China. K2 is the National mountain of Pakistan. The popular name K2 came from the name of the mountain range Karakoram. It means Karakoram 2.

K2 is 8,623 metres (28,661 feet) high. The mountain may be harder to climb than Mount Everest because of its very bad weather. Climbers say that the weather around K2 is much worse than Mount Everest. K2 is also much higher than the area around it when compared to Everest. K2 is nicknamed "The Savage Mountain" because of how difficult the climb is. It has the second-highest fatality rate among the eight-thousand-feet mountains. As of 2011, only 300 people have climbed to the top of the mountain. At least 80 people have died trying to climb it.

An unofficial name for K2 is Mount Godwin Austen, named for the man who first climbed it.

First ascent

The first attempt to reach the summit was made by an Anglo-Swiss expedition in 1902 that ascended to 18,600 feet (5,670 metres) on the peak’s northeastern crest. Other unsuccessful attempts included an Italian expedition in 1909, led by Luigi Amedeo, duke d’Abruzzi, via the southeastern ridge (later called the Abruzzi Ridge) that reached approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 metres). In 1938 an American expedition led by Charles Houston via the Abruzzi Ridge reached about 26,000 feet (7,925 metres); in 1939 another American-led expedition following the same route reached about 27,500 feet (8,380 metres); and in 1953 another expedition led by Houston reached 25,900 feet (7,900 metres) on the Abruzzi Ridge.

Finally, in 1954, an Italian expedition consisting of five scientists (including the geologist Ardito Desio as leader), a doctor, a photographer, and 12 others, including a Pakistani, managed to conquer the Abruzzi Ridge despite the severe weather conditions. The summit was reached at 6 pm on July 31, 1954, by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli. In the course of the ascent, Mario Puchoz, one of the guides, died of pneumonia.

Images for kids

• 

  Montgomerie's original sketch in which he applied the notation K2

• 

  The west face of K2 taken from the Savoia Glacier, on the 1909 expedition

• 

  K2 from the east, photographed during the 1909 expedition

• 

  Achille Compagnoni on K2's summit on the first ascent (31 July 1954)

• 

  The north side of K2. The North Ridge is in the centre of the picture.