Most kids know that the world’s highest mountain is Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.  But did you know that the second highest mountain is called K2?  Do you know where it is or how it got its name?  Or how much higher K2 would have to be to look down on Everest?  I’ll answer these questions as well as tell you some interesting stories about events that have shaped K2’s past.

The name, K2, represents British Lieutenant T. G. Montgomery’s designation as the second peak he encountered as he surveyed northern Pakistan’s Karakorum Range in 1856.  Past names include Godwin-Austen (for the original survey director), Chogori which locally means “Great Mountain” and phonetically, Ketu, by local climbing guides.  The summit stands 28,251 feet above sea level.  It would need to add 777 feet vertically (only about 1/2 the height of the Empire State Building) to stand as tall as Mount Everest.

K2 sits on the border between Pakistan and China, but most climbers access the mountain through Pakistan.  You can drive on rough roads to the trailhead at over 10,000 feet in elevation, but the rest of the trip is on foot with few comforts of home.  The hike to Base Camp at 17,000 feet altitude involves crossing rivers and minor glaciers to reach and then navigate the great Baltoro Glacier.

K2 is not an easy mountain to climb.  There are the usual difficulties of climbing at high altitude such as lack of oxygen, frequent severe storms and icy footing.  But, in addition, compared to Everest, K2 is steeper, more remote and further north.  Most climbers consider it more difficult than Mount Everest.  The best time of year for climbing K2 is considered to be June through August.

The first climb to the summit of K2 was in 1954 by a pair of Italian climbers.  This was accomplished only after their oxygen tanks ran out near the summit requiring an immediate descent in complete darkness.  The mountain was not climbed again until 1977 due to political conditions in Pakistan.

Many notable, exciting and tragic events have occurred on K2.  Among the most exciting is the story of a 1953 attempt by an eight-man American group led by veteran climber, Charles Houston.

In early August, all eight team members were high on the mountain waiting out a raging storm so they could attempt to reach the summit.  During the wait, team member Art Gilkey became seriously ill.  After waiting six days, it was determined that Gilkey needed to descend in order to survive.

The other members made a stretcher for Gilkey, strapped him to it and anchored it in the snow with an ice axe.  As they left him to attempt to find a route down the mountain, five party members began to fall down a steep ice slope, gathering speed.  As their ropes tangled and as everyone began to slide to their apparent deaths, team member Pete Schoening planted his ice axe hard into a pile of ice and rocks.  Miraculously, the ice axe held the falls of all five of the men.

Later, however, when they had gathered their emotions and senses, a search of the area where Gilkey had been stationed revealed that he was not to be found.  He had apparently been caught in a small avalanche that had dislodged his ice axe protection.  It seems ironic that ice axes determined the fates of both the party that fell and the individual who had been helplessly anchored.  Gilkey has been honored with a base camp memorial cairn (rock pile) that is now covered with plaques commemorating other climbers who have died on the mountain.

A story from 1986 involves two French climbers, Michel Parmentier and Benoit Chamioux.  Parmentier had reached the summit with two other party members from whom he subsequently became separated.  Rather than leave them to die on the mountain, he chose to try to find the missing climbers and help them descend.  Finally, realizing they were not to be found, he began to descend alone.  But it was dark, a heavy storm was on the mountain, and he was lost.

Fortunately, Chamioux, a solo climber who was at base camp, was able to make radio contact with Parmentier.  For nearly a day, Chamioux talked Parmentier down the mountain to where he was able to find a fixed rope line that over the next two days guided him down to Base Camp.  Imagine the excitement of seeing him stumble into camp after spending a total of three days descending.

I could not write about K2 without discussing the great Italian climber, Reinhold Messner.  His accomplishments in high mountains are legendary.  Messner was the first person to climb Everest without oxygen and the first person to climb all of the world’s fourteen 8000-meter (26,247 foot) peaks.  But his greatest challenge was his 1979 climb of K2, which he attempted alone, without oxygen and in alpine style.

Most high altitude climbing is done expedition style where a succession of group camps are made, rope is anchored for climber protection and the camps are stocked with supplies as they are established.  Alpine climbing is done by starting at the bottom of a mountain and going to the top carrying all your necessary equipment throughout the climb.  Camping, eating and resting are done as needed without being preplanned and without fixed rope protection as in an expedition style climb.  The goal is to climb light and fast.  Messner was able to accomplish the summit of K2 with this style in only two days.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief discussion of the beautiful but dangerous mountain, K2.  If what you have read here appeals to your sense of adventure, start with reading about and then training on lesser mountains than K2.  Be in good physical and mental condition.  But remember—as with most efforts in life, the greatest factor of success is attitude—the will to achieve.  Good climbing!