K2 is the world’s second-highest mountain after Mount Everest. It rises to 8,611 metres in the Karakoram range, on the Pakistan–China border.
The mountain’s unusual name came from a 19th-century British survey of the Karakoram. The letter K identified the range, while the number 2 indicated the second peak recorded during the survey. Unlike many famous mountains, K2 does not have a widely used local name that replaced this survey designation.
K2 is often called the Savage Mountain because of its steep terrain, severe weather, and technical climbing challenges. It was first climbed successfully in 1954 by an Italian expedition, whose team included Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. K2 is sometimes confused with Kangchenjunga, which is the world’s third-highest mountain, not the second.