Facts about K2 and its Death Zone

The K2 or Karakoram-2 is the highest point in the Karakoram range of mountains which is often described by mountaineers as “the savage mountain”.

The 8,611-meter K2 is the second highest peak in the world after 8,849-meter Mount Everest located in Nepal.

Deadlier than Mount Everest

K2 is more dangerous than the Mount Everest with a death rate of 29 % which means it kills every one climber out of four. While the highest mountain Mount Everest has a death rate of 4% only.

First summer summit

In summers of July 1953, an Italian expedition triumphed the K2 for the first time as the Italian climbers  Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni had succeeded in reaching the summit.

First winter summit

In January 2021, K2 became the final eight-thousander to be summited in the winter, by a team of Nepalese climbers led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.

The Death Zone

Altitude above 8000 meters is considered as the most deadliest for climbers– also known as Death Zone. The K2’s bottleneck (8,211 meteres) is regarded as its death zone extending from C4 shoulder (8,000 meters).

More than 80 climbers have become a victim of the harshness of the K2 so far.

It is estimated that human can survive 16 to 20 hours in death zone. However, In 2008 Nepal’s Pemba Gyalje Sherpa had survived after spending 90 hours in K2’s death zone.

Recently three climbers: Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s JP Mohr, have been missing since Friday during their expedition to the K2. The missing climbers have reportedly lost contact from their team when they were expected to be at the K2’s death zone.