Where is K2?

K2, the world’s second-highest mountain at 8,611 metres, straddles the border between the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Xinjiang region of China. It sits in the Karakoram range, north-west of the main Himalaya. Its name comes from a survey label: in 1856 British surveyor Thomas Montgomerie marked the peaks he saw as K1, K2 and so on, with K standing for Karakoram. An Italian expedition made the first ascent on 31 July 1954, and a team of Nepali climbers achieved the first winter summit in January 2021. Known as the “Savage Mountain”, it is considered far harder and more dangerous to climb than Everest.