In the northern part of Kashmir, in the Karakoram mountain range, stands the ice-covered peak K2, aka Chogori. It is the second highest mountain in the world after Mount Everest.
The Karakoram mountain range is located northeast of the western chain of the Himalayas and is considerably higher than it. Nowhere else in the world is there such a concentration of mountain peaks in one place.
The second highest peak in the world
In the central part of the Karakoram alone, there are about 70 peaks above 7000 meters. In close proximity to Chogori (8611 m) are Broad Peak (8051 m), Gasherbrum I (or Hidden Peak, 8068 m), Gasherbrum II (8034 m) and other giants. “If there is a place in the world worthy to be called the hall of mountain kings, it is just here” – so said about Karakoram the famous English actor, traveler and TV presenter Michael Palin.
The name of the peak K2 has nothing to do with its height, as uninitiated but logically thinking people might think. British Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers Thomas George Montgomery, who participated in the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1856, had his own and very straightforward logic: he simply numbered the peaks he saw from left to right. In essence it turned out as follows: Masherbrum K1, Chogori – K2, Broad Peak K3, etc. The letter “K”, of course, stood for Karakoram. None of the peaks that Montgomery “counted” had technical names-abbreviations. Except K2. The whole world still calls it that. In fact, the mountain had and has its own local name.
Chogori is only one of them. There are also Dapsang, Lamba Pahar (“high mountain” in Urdu), Kogir, Kechu or Ketu. For a long time the mountain was called Godwin-Osten, in honor of another English topographer, who five years after Montgomery calculated the exact height of the peak – 8611 m. On Soviet maps until the 1950s the peak was signed with his name. Then it became simply Chogori.
Mount Chogori (K2) is located in the northern part of Kashmir, controlled by Pakistan, on the border with China. The historic region of Kashmir has been the subject of territorial disputes between Pakistan, China and India for more than half a century.
This fact by no means hinders the development of K2. Every year hundreds of people climb the Baltoro glacier for the wonderful scenery of the Central Karakoram and to climb its famous peaks.
Killer Mountain
Mountaineers consider K2 one of the most difficult peaks. They call it a killer mountain, a wild mountain. It is much more difficult to climb than Everest.
K2 is a single massif with steep rock and ice slopes and powerful snow cover. The first serious attempt to climb the peak was made in 1902 by a group of six European climbers led by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley. Questionable physical fitness, interpersonal conflicts and bad weather prevented them from achieving their desired goal. They had no idea of the difficulties they would encounter, and yet they still managed to climb to 6525 meters. Swiss and Italian expeditions over the next 35 years were unsuccessful, but contributed to an understanding of the complex nature of the wild peak. In 1938, Eckenstein’s record was broken by the Americans under the leadership of Charles Houston. The climbers reached an altitude of almost 8,000 meters, and a year later Fritz Wissner reached 8,380 meters, but his expedition ended tragically – many of his comrades died in the snows of K2. The third American expedition in 1953 retreated with losses and frostbite as a result of a multi-day snowstorm.
The mountain was conquered in 1954 by the Italians, who spent almost a year developing a plan to storm it. Two members of the expedition, Lino Lachedelli and Achille Compagnoni, climbed to the summit. They overcame the last 200 meters without oxygen reserves. Their names were not disclosed until their return to Italy, as the expedition organizer Ardito Desio considered it a victory for the team.
In 1979, the famous Italian climber Messner Rheingold climbed K2 for the first time without oxygen tanks.
General Information
- The second highest peak in the world.
- It is located on the border between the northern territories of Kashmir, a disputed area in the northwest of the Indian peninsula, and China.
- Glaciers: Baltoro (62 km, the third longest in the world), Biafo, Hispur.
- Nearest international airport: in the city of Islamabad (Pakistan).
- Altitude: 8611 m.
- Height of neighboring peaks: Masherbrum (7821 m), Broad Peak (8051 m), Gasherbrum I, or Hidden Peak (8068 m), Gasherbrum II (8034 m).
Climate and weather
- Moderately continental.
- It is characterized by intensive solar radiation and large daily temperature amplitudes.
- The average annual temperature at an altitude of 5000 m is -4.5ºС.
Fun Facts
- Conquering K2 is an expensive pleasure. The Pakistani Ministry of Culture and Sports charges $900 for permission to climb to the top.
- The first woman conquered K2 in 1986. It was Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz.
- K2 (Chogori) ranks second among the eight-thousanders after Annapurna in terms of climbing danger. The mortality rate is 25%.
