Gasherbrum II (also known as K4) at 8,035 meters (26,360 feet) is the thirteenth highest mountain on Earth. Gasherbrum II is the third highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, located in the Karakoram region on the Pakistan-China border.

Gasherbrum II was first climbed on July 8, 1956 by Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch and Hans Willenpartan of an Austrian expedition.

Time Line

  • 1956 First ascent
  • 1975 Second ascent by a French group, 19 years after the first ascent. This expedition also saw the first death on the Gasherbrum. Three other expeditions summit including a Polish women's team headed by W. Rutkiewicz.
  • 1979 A Chilean and a German expedition succeed in the sixth and seventh ascents.
  • 1982 Reinhold Messner reaches the top with two Pakistanis.

See also: List of mountains, eight-thousanders.

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