K2

Where K2 sits

K2 stands 8,611 metres above sea level, was first surveyed by the Great Trigonometrical Survey in 1856, and was first climbed in 1954.

K2 rises at the head of the Baltoro Glacier system in the Karakoram, on the boundary between Shigar District in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Taxkorgan county of Xinjiang. From the Pakistani side the mountain is reached through Skardu, then by jeep along the Shigar and Braldu valleys to the village of Askole, where the road ends and the trek begins.

Unlike the Himalaya, the Karakoram is a compact, steep range built largely of granite and gneiss, and it carries the greatest concentration of glacier ice outside the polar regions. K2 is the highest point of that system. Four of the world's fourteen 8,000-metre peaks stand within a short radius of it: Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, Broad Peak and K2 itself, all draining into the same glacier network. That density is why Concordia, the confluence where the Godwin-Austen Glacier meets the Baltoro, is described by trekkers as a natural amphitheatre.

The mountain's local Balti name, Chhogori, is usually read as 'big mountain'. The surveyor's label K2 stuck because, unlike Everest or Nanga Parbat, no widely used village name existed for a summit that cannot be seen from any inhabited valley.

Why it is harder than Everest

K2 is roughly 250 metres lower than Everest but consistently more lethal. The reasons are structural rather than reputational. The mountain is steeper on every side, so there is no walking terrain above base camp; the standard Abruzzi Spur route involves sustained rock and mixed climbing at altitude, including the House's Chimney and the Black Pyramid, followed by the Bottleneck, a couloir directly beneath a band of hanging seracs that can collapse without warning.

Weather is the second factor. K2 sits far enough north to catch Central Asian storm systems, and summer weather windows are shorter and less predictable than on the Nepalese 8,000ers. Parties routinely wait weeks at base camp for two or three stable days.

There is also no easy retreat. Rescue by helicopter is limited by altitude, and a climber who becomes unable to move above Camp 3 is effectively beyond help. Summit success rates have improved substantially since commercial expeditions began fixing rope on the standard route, but the mountain remains an objective for climbers with prior 8,000-metre experience rather than a first high-altitude goal.

The trek to base camp

Most visitors to K2 never climb it. The Baltoro trek to K2 Base Camp and Concordia is one of the great walking routes in Asia, and it is open to fit trekkers with no technical mountaineering skill. The standard itinerary runs Skardu to Askole by jeep, then on foot through Jhola, Paiju, Urdukas, Goro II and Concordia, reaching base camp at roughly 5,150 metres before returning the same way or crossing the Gondogoro La for a longer loop.

Allow twelve to eighteen days from Skardu. Nights are spent in tents on glacier moraine, temperatures fall well below freezing even in July, and porters carry most loads under a regulated wage system. Permits are handled through a licensed Pakistani operator; trekking permits for the Baltoro are straightforward, while a climbing permit for the summit is a separate and considerably more involved process handled by the Gilgit-Baltistan authorities.

For photographers, the value of the route is that the light changes character every day: dust and juniper at Paiju, bare ice from Urdukas onward, and clean granite reflection at Concordia in the hour after sunrise.

Weather and permits aside, the practical constraint on the Baltoro is logistics. Everything eaten on the glacier is carried in from Askole, so group size, porter numbers and rest days are fixed weeks in advance, and a single blocked jeep road in the Braldu valley can shift an entire itinerary. Trekkers who build two spare days into the plan almost always use them.

Visiting K2

Best months

June, July, August

Access

Fly or drive to Skardu, jeep to Askole, then trek the Baltoro Glacier to Concordia and base camp.

Permit

Trekking the Baltoro requires a permit arranged through a licensed Pakistani operator; a summit attempt needs a separate climbing permit from the Gilgit-Baltistan authorities.

Nearest airport

Skardu International Airport (KDU)

Difficulty

Strenuous trek to base camp; extreme technical mountaineering above it

Climbing and trekking

First ascent

31 July 1954

Sources

1. [1]Elevation records for Pakistan's 8,000-metre peaks — Survey of Pakistan. Accessed 2026-08-30.
2. [2]K2 | Mountain, Height, Location, Map, & Facts — Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 2026-08-30.
3. [3]Karakoram expedition records — The Alpine Journal. Accessed 2026-08-30.
4. [4]Trekking routes and permits in Gilgit-Baltistan — Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department. Accessed 2026-08-30.

Frequently asked questions

In short

• K2 rises to 8,611 metres on the Pakistan–China border and is the second highest mountain on Earth.
• The peak sits at the head of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range, inside Gilgit-Baltistan.
• An Italian team made the first ascent of K2 in 1954, and the first winter ascent followed in January 2021.