K2 rises to 8,611 metres on the border of Pakistan and China, second only to Everest, and climbers have called it the Savage Mountain since 1953. HipdeBop's short tribute film sets the peak and its glaciers to an original soundtrack, and it makes a good starting point for learning what makes this mountain so feared and so admired.
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K2's height and location in the Karakoram
K2 stands in the Karakoram range, with its southern side in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and its northern side in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China. Most sources give its height as 8,611 m (28,251 ft); a 2014 satellite survey measured 8,609 m.
The name is a surveyor's label. During the Great Trigonometrical Survey of 1856, Thomas Montgomerie numbered the Karakoram peaks he could see from afar, and K2 was simply the second. The proposed name Mount Godwin-Austen never won acceptance, so the working label stuck. The mountain is also called the "Mountain of Mountains".
Why K2 is called the Savage Mountain
The nickname comes from the American climber George Bell, who said after the 1953 expedition that "it's a savage mountain that tries to kill you." The reputation is earned. Before 2021, roughly one person died for every four who reached the summit. By August 2023 about 800 people had stood on top, and 96 had died on the mountain.
The dangers are concentrated high up. On the standard route, the Abruzzi Spur on the south-east ridge, climbers must pass the Bottleneck, a narrow couloir that runs close to an ice cliff of hanging seracs. Storms arrive fast, and the summit lies far above the altitude where the body can recover.
The first ascent in 1954 and the winter summit of 2021
The first ascent came on 31 July 1954, when Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni of an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio reached the top via the Abruzzi Spur. The route is named after the Duke of the Abruzzi, who attempted it in 1909.
Winter held out much longer. On 16 January 2021, ten Nepali climbers, led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, walked to the summit together.
HipdeBop's tribute film
HipdeBop composed, performed and produced the music for Tribute to The Savage Mountain [K2] and published the film on YouTube. It is a mood piece: wide views of the range, small figures on the snow and the pyramid of K2 itself, cut to the rhythm of the soundtrack.
Watch for the scale. The climbers in the foreground look tiny against the glaciers and the surrounding ridges show how deep in the Karakoram K2 really sits.
Trekking to K2 base camp
Most visitors see K2 from the Pakistani side on a trek up the Baltoro Glacier. The walk starts from Askole, one of the last villages in the valley, and climbs to Concordia the great glacier junction below the peak. Climbing expeditions place their advanced base camp at about 5,400 m.
Plan for July or August. Those are the warmest months and the season when almost all summit attempts take place. Go with a licensed local outfitter: permits, porters and acclimatisation days are all part of a safe Baltoro trek.
For more high peaks, see K2 within a wider high-mountain list, or hear the Norwegian musician who plays music created from a winter material.
Related reading
- Everest’s Mountain Workers: The Sherpa’s Story
- The Khumbu Icefall through Theodore Fairhurst’s Helmet Camera
- Niseko Snowboarding: A Thirteen-Day GoPro Diary
- A KiwiRail Train Clears Snow near Arthur’s Pass
- Skiing Åre: A Swedish Mountain Film Shot with a GoPro
- Walking on Perito Moreno Glacier with Richard Watson
Sources
- Wikipedia: K2
- Video and music: HipdeBop, Tribute to The Savage Mountain [K2]
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