Is K2 safer than Everest?

Despite being nearly 800 feet shorter than Mount Everest, K2 is a more deadly mountain. Mountaineer Jake Meyer told Insider several critical factors contribute to making K2 so dangerous. On K2, mountaineers face constant 45-degree-angle climbs, no matter the route they take, he said.



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The higher the altitude and the latitude and the colder the season, the lower are BP and Temp at a given altitude [14,25,26,27,28]. The summit of K2 is 237 m lower than Everest's, but it is located 8° further north, which might substantially affect its weather conditions, especially in midwinter.

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K2 is 8,611m high, the second-highest mountain in the world, and has a reputation as the hardest to climb. K2 is well within the Death Zone, so called because above 8,000m. the human body cannot function properly due to the oxygen levels in a climber's blood cells and tissue being reduced.

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1. Annapurna (8,091 meters / 26,545 feet) ? Nepal. Annapurna is the deadliest mountain in the world to climb. With a fatality rate of around 32%, Annapurna's sees approximately 32 deaths per 100 successful summits.

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Since 1922, when the first attempt to climb Everest was made, 193 climbers and 125 Sherpas have died on both sides of the mountain.

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Most people agree that Kilimanjaro is harder than Everest Base Camp. While there are aspects of the Everest Base Camp trek that are harder than Kilimanjaro, the general feeling is that Kilimanjaro is the harder of the two treks. The main reason for this is summit night – it's a biggie.

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The mountain most widely claimed to be the highest unclimbed mountain in the world in terms of elevation is Gangkhar Puensum (7,570 m, 24,840 ft). It is in Bhutan, on or near the border with China. In Bhutan, the climbing of mountains higher than 6,000 m (20,000 ft) has been prohibited since 1994.

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Of all deaths from 1950 to 2019 in non-Sherpa climbers during a summit bid on Mount Everest, about 35% were caused by falls, with other leading causes being exhaustion (22%), altitude illness (18%) and exposure (13%). In Sherpa deaths over the same time period, 44% were attributable to avalanches.

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Sherpa get paid the paltry amount of between $3,000-$5,000 US-Dollars for the climbing season, plus bonuses if they climb the Everest.

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The mountain has claimed over 300 climbers in recent history, and about two-thirds of that number remain on the mountain. The current estimate of remains left behind on Everest total around 200.

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Some say that certain sections of Annapurna are even more difficult to climb than K2 and Everest. Not just that, it is also considered one of the most fatal mountains in the world, with around 40% fatality rate, the highest among all the peaks in the world.

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When looking at the 14 highest mountains above sea level worldwide, Annapurna I and K2 were the mountains with highest summit to death ratio, at 27.2 percent and 22.8 percent, respectively, as of May 2023.

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At least 365 people have climbed Annapurna and more than 72 have died on the mountain, according to hiking officials.

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