In Reinhold Messner’s opinion, K-2 is the most impressive but the most difficult peak in the world. It is perhaps for this reason that the locals call it Chogori, ‘the king of mountains’. K2 has variously been described as the "awesome", "killer”, "savage" and “the mountain of mountains”. Its lower face is rocky up to 6,000 meters, beyond which it becomes a vertical ocean of snow.
K2 majestically stands on the Pakistan-China border ruling the mighty Karakoram. The traditional route to its base camp goes through Baltoro Glacier. The height of the peak is 8,616 meters/28,267 feet according to the survey done by Italian geologists in 2004.
  
The peak has been climbed by over two hundred and fifty climber through different routes. The most common and easiest is Abruzzi Ridge followed by the legendry Italian climbers Mr. Lino Lacedelli and Mr. Achille Compagnoni who reached the summit on August 31, 1954. |