K2, also called Mount Godwin Austen or Dapsang, is the world’s second highest mountain. Only Mount Everest is higher. K2 is located in the Karakoram, or Mustagh, Range in northern Kashmir (see Himalaya ). The peak, which reaches 28,250 feet (8,611 meters), is snow-covered and usually hidden in clouds. There are glaciers 30 and 40 miles (48 and 64 kilometers) long on its flanks. The mountain originally was named for Henry Haversham Godwin Austen (1834-1923), an Englishman who surveyed it in the late 1850’s. He called it K2, and it is now known by that name. In July 1954, an Italian expedition became the first to reach the top of the mountain. The expedition was led by Ardito Desio.
