K2

Second-highest mountain above sea level, 8,611 m/28,251 ft, in the Karakoram range, in a disputed region of Pakistan. It was

first climbed in 1954 by an Italian expedition.

The peak was designated ‘K2’ by Lt-Col Henry Godwin-Austen in his surveying log since it was the second peak in the Karakorams to be surveyed and mapped. It was later unofficially called Mount Godwin-Austen in his honour, although this alternative name has largely gone out of use.