K2

Where is K2?

K2 is part of the Karakoram.

You will find it in: Pakistan, China.

Summit: 35.883° N, 76.513° E

The story behind it

K2 rose the same way as its Himalayan neighbours, pushed skyward when the Indian and Asian continents collided millions of years ago, but its shape is close to a perfect pyramid, with steep faces on every side. Almost nobody lives near its base — the approach trek crosses the wild, empty Baltoro Glacier for more than a week before climbers even reach basecamp. Climbing K2 is famously harder and deadlier than Everest: historically, roughly one climber has died for every four who reached the summit, often in avalanches or sudden storms. It was not climbed in winter until January 2021, when a team of ten Nepali climbers linked arms and sang their national anthem together as they stepped onto the summit — the first winter ascent in K2's history.

Find it on the globe

K2 is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.