8000m peaks - Everest - K2 - Kangchenjunga - Lhotse - Makalu - Cho-Oyu - Dhaulagiri - Manaslu - Nanga Parbat - Annapurna - Gasherbrum I - Broad Peak - Gasherbrum II - Shishapangma

K2 is the second highest mountain on earth with 8611 meters or 28251 feet. K2 is almost 800 feet lower than Mount Everest, but its sharper, more graceful architecture makes it a more striking mountain--and a much harder one to climb. K2 is also called Mount Godwin-Austen and locally as “Chogo Ri”, which means "The Great Mountain". The mountain was first surveyed by a European survey team in 1856 headed by Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen. Thomas Montgomerie was the member of the team who designated it "K2" for being the second peak of the Karakoram range (map). The other peaks were originally named K1, K3, K4 and K5, but were eventually renamed Masherbrum, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I respectively. K2 has a reputation as the killer mountain. Indeed, of the 14 mountains in the world over 8,000 meters, K2 has the highest failure rate. The mountain is considered to be the world's most difficult and dangerous climb, hence its nickname the "Savage Mountain". Reaching the top of K2 and coming down alive is every veteran mountaineers dream.

Early summit attempts
(source: everest.com)

It was probably for the first time in 1902 that an organized expedition of Oscar J.L. Eckenstein traveled to K-2 from Baltoro glacier. The expedition was without any guide. Its aim was to explore approaches to the mountain and possibly have a try on the peak. It was, however, harsh weather which prevented it from attempting the peak. In 1909, a big Italian expedition under the leadership of resolute Luigi Amadeo Giuseppe (Duke of Abruzzi) the grandson of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, reconnoitred K2. Two famous British mountaineers, Harold William Tilman and Eric Earle Shipton, explored and surveyed the north face of K2 and its subsidiary glaciers in 1937. In 1938, the American Alpine Club sponsored a reconnaissance party for a visit to K2 area. The party reached a height of 7925 meters after setting up eight camps. The next year saw another American expedition on K2. It was led by Fritz Hermann Ernst Wiessner, a German-American chemist and mountaineer. The expedition, along with nine Sherpas, made very good progress on the already-identified south-east ridge. Another American attempt on K2 was made in 1953. The expedition leader was Dr. Charles Houston, who had also led the 1938 American expedition on this peak.

Climbing history

The first successful summit was by an Italian team lead by Ardito Desio in 1954. The expedition started with over 500 porters, 11 climbers, and six scientists. One of the climbers died of pneumonia after 40 days of raging storms. The final ascent was made by Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni after their oxygen supply had run out, and an emergency descent was made in darkness.

The second ascent was made in 1977 by a Japanese expedition led by Ichiro Yoshizawa via the Abruzzi Spur. In addition to using bottled oxygen, this team employed 1500 porters and 52 members.

An American expedition led by Jim Whittaker were the third to reach the summit. They ascended on the south side via the Polish North East Ridge, traversing to the Abruzzi Spur at 7,700 meters. The first person to reach the summit without oxygen was part of this team. The expedition leader, James w. Whittaker, started using his oxygen at 8100m. 200m further up Louis Reinhardt tried to use his oxygen, but failed. He then continued, summated, and left early. James, however waited, took pictures, and ended up spending the night. He was rescued by a military helicopter lower on.

The fourth K2 ascent belongs to Reinhold Messner and Michl Dacher, who summited in 1979 without supplemental oxygen. Messner about K2: "On Mount Everest it feels as if you are in the womb, but on K2, you are always on the edge".

In 1986, three women - Wanda Rutkiewicz of Poland, Julie Tullis of Britain, and Liliane Barrard of France - became the first 3 women to stand on the summit. Unfortunately, Julie and Liliane died on the descent. This season later became known as the "worst summer on K2", with a total of 13 deaths. All three women were climbing without supplemental oxygen.

Ed Viesturs reached the summit of K2 on August 16, 1992. Later he described the effort in an interview: "K2 for me, in 1992, after three 8,000 meter summits, I felt like I was ready — and that's important. You shouldn't go to K2 until you feel prepared. I climbed with Scott Fischer, and we had no luck getting sponsorship and in fact sneaked out of town $15,000 in debt, but we both badly wanted to try K2, and we wanted to climb it together. After months of bad weather, we were finally at Camp IV ready to go to the summit the next day. We both were climbing without supplemental oxygen. We were expecting to leave at one in the morning, but the weather was bad and we ended up spending three nights and three days at 26,000 feet. Finally, the weather cleared and we left the tent before one in the morning so we could reach the summit as early as possible. We could see these big black clouds rising up to meet us, and it started snowing. I knew that this accumulating snow would make conditions dangerous, but Scott was so focused on the summit that he wanted to go on. So I just kept saying to myself, okay, I'll go for 10 minutes more, then 10 minutes more, and that went on all day. Phil Ershler had been in a similar situation a year before and had turned around, and I kept thinking about that. But we finally reached the summit, and both Scott and I were overjoyed to be on top, but I was really worried about the descent. On the way down I was convinced that we were going to die in an avalanche, or get lost in the storm."

In "No shortcuts to the top" Viesturs writes: "I will never be able to look back on our 1992 K2 expedition without mixed feelings. No matter what Charley Mace or Scott Fischer thought about our decision to push on to the summit as the storm rose and engulfed us, I am still convinced that it was the one big mistake of my climbing career."

A history of reaching the summit of K2 by Monika Rogozinska
K2 at Adventure Tours Pakistan
K2 - The savage mountain by Per Jerberyd

Shared Summits K2 Climbing Expedition 2007: After 9 weeks, 3 routes, 5 attempts, 15 1⁄2 hours (after leaving Camp 4), the Summit of K2 (28,253 feet / 8,611 meters) is reached at 7:36 am EDT Friday, July 20, 2007!