Eighteen climbers reached K2's summit. By morning, eleven were dead.

On August 1st, 2008, eighteen climbers reached the K2 summit. By the next morning, eleven were dead. This is the 2008 K2 disaster — the deadliest night on the Savage Mountain, at the K2 Bottleneck. It began with a single collapsing wall of ice above the narrowest stretch of the mountain, and it took the fixed ropes with it. K2 is 237 meters shorter than Everest. It is also, by every measure that matters, far more likely to kill you. For decades, roughly one in four people who reached its summit never made it back down alive. Mountaineers gave it a name no other peak carries: the Savage Mountain. This is the story of how it earned that name — from the 1953 expedition that first spoke the words, through the disputed first ascent of 1954, to the deadliest single day in the mountain's history. CHAPTERS 0:00 August 1st, 2008 0:33 K2 — 8,611 metres 1:08 1953: How the mountain got its name 2:36 July 31st, 1954: The first ascent, and what it cost 3:46 Why K2 kills 5:32 The Savage Summer of 1986 6:44 The deadliest day 8:21 What the mountain left behind SOURCES Every figure in this video was checked against at least two independent sources. ・1986 season, 13 deaths — Wikipedia "K2" / Wired For Adventure ・2008 disaster, 11 dead across 7 nations — Wikipedia "2008 K2 disaster" / haydenrue.com ・George Bell's "savage mountain" quote — climbing.com / Seattle Times via Wikipedia ・1-in-4 fatality rate (historical; improved since 2021) — Wikipedia "K2" ・1954 first ascent, Bonatti and Mahdi's forced bivouac at 8,100 m, and the Club Alpino Italiano's 2007 correction — Wikipedia / Much Better Adventures ・"13 of the last 14 fatal accidents occurred at or near the Bottleneck" — Wikipedia "Bottleneck (K2)" / Skardu Trekkers Art Gilkey's disappearance in 1953 remains disputed — whether he was swept away by an avalanche or cut himself loose to save the men carrying him has never been settled. This video does not claim to resolve it. MUSIC "Glimpsing Infinity" — Asher Fulero (YouTube Audio Library) "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" — The Grey Room / Density & Time (YouTube Audio Library) #K2 #Mountaineering #SavageMountain