Most of the world’s most iconic mountains have pretty iconic names. Oftentimes they’re local names, like Annapurna, Denali, Lhotse, or Kangchenjunga. But the second tallest mountain in the world doesn’t really follow those naming conventions. K2 is a short, to the point title, but where did it come from and what does it mean?
As it turns out, the mountain is named K2 because it was the second Karakoram mountain come across during the Great Trigonometrical Survey that took place in the 19th century. K1 had a widely known name, and is thus now called Masherbrum, but K2 didn’t have a widely adopted name by locals, so the short title stuck.
K2 does seem appropriate for the mountain, with its short, abrupt name reflecting the mountain’s harsh and deadly nature.
