K2

Godwin Austin Glacier and K2 in the Karakoram Range, Pakistan also called Mount Godwin Austen, called locally Dapsang, or Chogori the world's second highest peak (28,251 feet ), second only to Mount Everest. K2 forms part of the Karakoram Range (Himalayas) and lies partly in China and partly on the western side of the Indian-Pakistani line of control in Jammu and Kashmir; it is presently under Pakistani administration. The glacier- and snow-covered mountain rises from its base at about 15,000 feet on the Godwin Austen Glacier, a tributary of the Baltoro Glacier. The mountain was discovered and measured in 1856 by Colonel T.G. Montgomerie of the Survey of India, and it was given the symbol K2 because it was the second peak measured in the Karakoram Range. The name Godwin Austen is for the peak's first surveyor, Colonel H.H. Godwin Austen, a 19th-century English geographer. The first attempt to reach the summit was made by an Anglo-Swiss expedition in 1902 that ascended to 18,600 feet on the peak's northeastern crest. Other unsuccessful attempts included an Italian expedition in 1909, led by Luigi Amedeo, Duke d'Abruzzi, via the southeastern ridge (later called the Abruzzi Ridge) that reached approximately 20,000 feet. In 1938 an American expedition led by Charles Houston via the Abruzzi Ridge reached about 26,000 feet; in 1939 another American-led expedition following the same route reached about 27,500 feet; and in 1953 another expedition led by Houston reached 25,900 feet on the Abruzzi Ridge. Finally, in 1954, an Italian expedition consisting of five scientists (including the geologist Ardito Desio as leader), a doctor, a photographer, and 12 others, including a Pakistani, managed to conquer the Abruzzi Ridge despite the severe weather conditions. The summit was reached at 6 PM on July 31, 1954, by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli. In the course of the ascent, Mario Puchoz, one of the guides, died of pneumonia.