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K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, with a peak elevation of 8,611 metres (28,251 ft).K2 is part of the Karakoram range, not far from the Himalayas, and is located on the border between the Pakistani Gilgit-Baltistan region, and China's Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. [6]
K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest at 8,849 metres (29,032 ft). [5] It lies in the Karakoram range, partially in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and partially in the China-administered Trans-Karakoram Tract in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang.
The couloir is located only 400 m (1,300 ft) below the summit, and climbers have to traverse about 100 m (330 ft) exposed to the seracs to pass it. Due to the height of 8,200 m (26,900 ft), and the steepness of 50 to 60 degrees, this stretch is the most dangerous part of the route. [ 1 ]
Since that time, K2 has developed the reputation of being a more difficult mountain to climb than Mount Everest – every route to the summit is tough. [9] [note 5] K2 is farther north than the Himalayan mountains so the climate is colder; the Karakoram range is wider than the Himalayan so more ice and snow is trapped there. [12]
The summit of Mount Everest lies in the death zone. In mountaineering, the death zone refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span. This point is generally agreed as 8,000 m (26,000 ft), where atmospheric pressure is less than 356 millibars (10.5 inHg; 5.16 psi). [1]
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Accordingly K2 is only in the table below for reference and not shown on the map on this page. The interactive map on this page ranks Himalayan peaks above 7,500 m (24,600 ft) and is more inclusive. A peak has a different definition to a mountain and different authorities may use different definitions of either.
The 1986 K2 disaster refers to a period from 6 August to 10 August 1986, when five mountaineers died on the eight-thousander K2, in the Karakoram during a severe storm. Eight other climbers were killed in the weeks preceding, bringing the total number of deaths that climbing season to 13.