K2

Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

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K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori, is the second-highest mountain in the world, towering at 8,611 meters (28,251 feet).

It stands like a sentinel in the Karakoram range of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, near the border with China. Unlike Everest, K2 is famed not just for its height but for its ferocity—earning nicknames like “The Savage Mountain” and “The Mountaineers’ Mountain”. Its name “K2” comes from the Great Trigonometrical Survey of British India in 1856, where it was the second peak cataloged in the Karakoram range.

The mountain has no widely accepted local name, though “Chhogori” (meaning “big mountain” in Balti) is sometimes used. K2’s climbing history is as dramatic as its profile. The first successful ascent was made on July 31, 1954, by Italian climbers Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli via the Abruzzi Spur.

But it wasn’t until 2021 that K2 was finally summited in winter, a feat achieved by a team of Nepali climbers led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.