Claim: K2 is called the Savage Mountain because it is hard to climb.

K2 -LRB- -LSB- -RRB- , also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori -LRB- Balti and -LSB- -RRB- , is the second highest mountain in the world , after Mount Everest , at 8611 m above sea level . It is located on the China-Pakistan border between Baltistan , in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan , and the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang , China . K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang .   K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the extreme difficulty of ascent . It has the second-highest fatality rate among the eight thousanders . With around 300 successful summits and 77 fatalities , about one person dies on the mountain for every four who summit . It is more difficult and hazardous to reach the peak of K2 from the Chinese side , so it is usually climbed from the Pakistani side . Unlike Annapurna , the mountain with the highest fatality-to-summit rate -LRB- 191 summits and 61 fatalities -RRB- , or the other eight thousanders , K2 has never been climbed during winter .