2. K2 (Mount Godwin Austin)
Elevation: 8,610 meters
K2 is the second tallest mountain in the world and has often been dubbed ‘savage mountain’, because of the risks involved with its ascent. Indeed, while there have been 302 successful ascents of the peak, 80 climbers have lost their lives in their quest to do so. Its name is unusual compared to the other peaks in our list, and it comes from the range Karakoram range in which it stands, with the ‘2’ signifying the fact that it is the second tallest mountain in the world. Despite its vastness, climbers have seen summit K2 as a challenge for well over a century, and the first serious attempt took place back in 1902, by British climbers Aleister Crowley and Oscar Eckenstein. It took two weeks merely to reach the foot of the mountain, and the pair went on to spend a further 68 days attempting to scale the peak. Due to atrocious weather conditions, the expedition was aborted before they suffered any casualties. Several further expeditions took place in the first half of the 20th century, but all were aborted, due to a variety of factors, including injury, storms, and other difficulties. Finally, 1954, two Italian climbers conquered the summit, although another 23 years went by before anyone else was successful.
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