1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/K2

K2, or Mt Godwin-Austen, the second highest mountain in the world, ranking after Mt Everest. It is a peak of the Karakoram extension of the Muztagh range dividing Kashmir from Chinese Turkestan. The height of K₂ as at present determined by triangulation is 28,250 ft., but it is possible that an ultimate revision of the values of refraction at high altitudes may have the effect of lowering the height of K₂, while it would elevate those of Everest and Kinchinjunga. The latter mountain would then rank second, and K₂ third, in the scale of altitude, Everest always maintaining its ascendancy. K₂ was ascended for the first time by the duke of the Abruzzi in June 1909, being the highest elevation on the earth’s surface ever reached by man.