K2

K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori, is the second highest mountain in the world, after Mount Everest, at 8611m above sea level. It is located on the China-Pakistan border between Baltistan, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang.K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the extreme difficulty of ascent. It has the second-highest fatality rate among the eight thousanders. With around 300 successful summits and 77 fatalities, about one person dies on the mountain for every four who summit. It is more difficult and hazardous to reach the peak of K2 from the Chinese side, so it is usually climbed from the Pakistani side. Unlike Annapurna, the mountain with the highest fatality-to-summit rate, or the other eight thousanders, K2 has never been climbed during winter.NameThe name K2 is derived from the notation used by the Great Trigonometric Survey of British India. Thomas Montgomerie made the first survey of the Karakoram from Mount Haramukh, some 130mi to the south, and sketched the two most prominent peaks, labeling them K1 and K2.