It was on this day in 1954 that human feet first stood upon the summit of Pakistan’s K2, the second-tallest mountain in the world.
K2 was known to the Chinese as the “Great Mountain,” and to Indian and Pakistani locals as “That Big Thing Over There.” It wasn’t until 1856, when T.G. Montgomerie of Britain’s Survey of India was mapping the mountains of the Karakoram range, that it was dubbed K2. This helped distinguish it from K1, to its left, and K3, to its right.
(K1 was later named Mount Masherbrum. K3 moved to Arizona, where ICE agents believed the mountain was assisting underage children in sneaking across the border.)
It was an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio that first succeeded in reaching the peak of K2. Team members Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni achieved that distinction on July 31, 1954.
The summit wasn’t reached again until 1977, when a Japanese team – with more than 1,500 porters – found their way to the top.
The first American expedition reached the summit in 1978, without the aid of any stinking porters.
The Haus of Dcaligari 