August 20, 2010 – This Year’s Summit Score – Everest: 508, K2: 1

Reaching the 8,848 m summit of Mount Everest may garner more mainstream media attention but K2, with its slightly shorter 8,611 m peak, continues to prove it’s the more challenging climb. This year there have been 508 successful summits on Everest with only three deaths while K2 has seen zero successful summits and two deaths.  K2 has had just over 300 ascents and has the second highest fatality rate among 8,000 m peaks with one death for every four successful ascents. Everest on the other hand has been summated by over 2,700 climbers including a 13 year-old boy and a 76 year-old man. More details here.