K2, Mount Everest's dangerous little sister, is the highest peak in the Karakoram Mountain Range of Pakistan. At 8,611 meters, it is the second highest mountain in the world. In addition to being the second-highest mountain, K2 also has the second-highest fatality rate among mountains over 8,000 meters. K2 is deadly. It is nicknamed Savage Mountain because of its fearsome weather. K2 is so dangerous that it has never been climbed in winter.

K2 is a rocky mountain up to the 6,000-meter point. After that, it is covered in snow. It rises very steeply on all sides, making it stand out dramatically in its mountain range. Its steepness, of course, adds to its great difficulty. Anyone attempting to climb K2 must truly climb; this is not a mountain you can hike up.

Who has actually climbed K2? Far fewer people than have tried, that's for sure. The first people known to summit, or reach the top of K2, were Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni. They stood on top of the Savage Mountain on July 31, 1954. This was the fifth serious attempt to climb the mountain, though teams had been trying since 1902!

The next group to summit K2 didn't make it to the top until August 9, 1977. As of today, 302 people have reached the top of K2. However, 31 of those people died on the descent. A total of 80 people have died trying to climb K2, meaning that about 26% of those who attempt K2 never make it back. They are killed by avalanches, rock falls, falling, cold and exhaustion, or they disappear into snowstorms. Mountain climbing is a dangerous sport, and K2 is one of its greatest challenges. Despite its cruelty, there is something about this great mountain that keeps drawing people to it.

K2峰是聖母峰的小妹，也是巴基斯坦境內喀拉崑崙山脈的最高峰。它高度有8,611公尺，是世界第二高山。除了是第二高山之外，K2也是8,000公尺以上的眾高山中攀山死亡率第二高的。登K2是很容易喪命的。它因為可怕的天氣而被暱稱為「狂暴之山」。K2非常危險，因此從沒有人在冬季攀登。

6,000公尺以下的K2山路崎嶇，6,000公尺之上則覆蓋在大雪之中。它每一面都很陡峭，使它在這山脈中顯得異常突出。陡峭的山峰當然也使攀爬的難度大幅增加。想爬K2的人真的是要用爬的，這座山可不是你可以走上山的。

曾爬上K2的人有誰呢？可以肯定的是，爬上的人數遠比嘗試過的人要少很多。我們所知第一個成功攻頂（或爬上K2山頂）的人，是利諾•康帕羅尼及亞其利• 坎帕諾尼，他們在1954年7月31日站上狂暴之山的山頂。這是第五次有人認真地嘗試攻頂，儘管許多登山隊從1902年開始就不斷嘗試！

下一個成功攻上K2的隊伍是在1977年的8月9日，在那之前無人成功過。到目前為止，有302個人成功攻頂K2。然而，這些人中有31個人在下山途中死亡。共有80 個人在嘗試攀爬K2 時死亡，這表示爬過K2的登山者中有26%的人一去不回。他們因雪崩、落石、失足墜落、寒冷或精疲力竭而死，或者消失在暴風雪中。登山是一項危險的運動，而K2 是最偉大的挑 戰之一。儘管高山冷峻無情，但這座不朽之山卻有一種不斷吸引人們接近的特質。