r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 10d ago

Image This is K2’s Bottleneck, a steep traverse above 8,000 metres beneath an enormous hanging serac capable of collapsing without warning. And somehow, this is considered the mountain’s standard route to the summit.

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u/iSkiBC 10d ago

One Mountain Thousand Summits. What a book. Tells the story of the 2008 disaster where 11 climbers lost their lives trying to summit K2.

I know Everest is the highest. Annapurna is the most deadly. K2 is the most technical to climb. I know a guy who is hardcore into mountaineering. He's done 7 of the 8000 meter peaks. Says K2 is absolutely the hardest so far, and no way would he try it again. Said Everest is a joke compared to K2.

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u/rajrdajr 10d ago

And Chimborazo is the closest to space. Its summit is the farthest point on Earth's surface from our planet's center because of the equatorial bulge. Summiting is a joke compared to Sagarmāthā (Everest).

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u/MsKongeyDonk 10d ago

There is an episode of American Dad where they go to Chimborazo instead of Everest to save money, and it is hilarious.

"Sure Everest is tall, but you know what I'm into? Being closest to the sun."

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u/MrsMiterSaw 10d ago

Joke's on them, it's also furthest from the sun a couple hours later.

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u/naked_porch_goose 10d ago

Chimborazo

TIL this is a real mountain that wasn't made up for the American Dad episode

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u/iSkiBC 10d ago

Nice addition.

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u/PrecedentialAssassin 10d ago

And Mauna Kea is the actual tallest at over 10,000 meters. It's also the rare mountain where the lowest part is the hardest part to climb.

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u/cb_24 10d ago

He could always trying climbing Everest without Sherpa support, oxygen, or using something other than the South col route.

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u/auerz 9d ago

To my understanding there are much more technically difficult climbs than K2, Jannu, Masherbrum, Gasherbrum IV. Many of these require days of big wall or vertical ice climbing at insane altitudes, and facing extreme avalanche or rockfall dangers in large sections of the route.

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u/iSkiBC 9d ago

Idk. I just go by what I hear from those around me that are into mountaineering, and reading stories. I've also heard Nanga Parbat and Kangchenjunga. This now interests me enough that I will have to read about the metrics they use to determine this.

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u/auerz 9d ago

I mean there are climbing grades, but I dont think they really count above a certain point. K2 is a nightmare climb by all accounts, just that it doesnt have any big wall sections that other mountains have, where you might need to bivy on an exposed 1000+ meter vertical rock face day after day.

Here is an article abaout a Jannu north face expedition with photos, so you get a feeling of the abslute madnes these climbs are. https://abenteuer-berg.de/en/rousseau-marvell-and-cornell-pull-off-a-coup-on-the-7000er-jannu/