The world'due south highest and virtually remote mountains inspire awe in all of united states of america, only few are aware how truly dangerous they can be. The fact is that whatever time experienced climbers and mountaineers put crampons to ice, they will face up some degree of danger — no thing how much outdoor gear they take or grooming they've done. Accidents can occur even at relatively benign roadside crags. Even so, there are certain mountains that control respect from fifty-fifty the nigh experienced climbers — dangerous mountains that continue to crusade fear and anxiety decades after their get-go ascents. And while it may be the near famous, Mt. Everest is not the deadliest mount. From K2 to Mt. Denali, these are the 11 hardest mountains to climb in the world.

1. Annapurna

Where: Himalayas, north-cardinal Nepal
Top: 8,091 m (26,545 ft)

Since its kickoff ascent on the 1950 trek led by Maurice Herzog, Annapurna Massif in Nepal has been climbed by more than than almost 300 people, but at least 73 have died trying. This high fatality rate makes Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the globe, the most statistically dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks. Trekking the Annapurna circuit is possible with lots of grooming and training, but more novice hikers would exist better suited to summiting less unsafe peaks inside the Annapurna Conservation Area, visiting teahouses in Nepal in the Khopra Ridge, or heading to the Mardi Himal Base Military camp.

2. K2

Where: Karakoram range, Prc-Pakistan border
Height: viii,611 1000 (28,251 ft)

K2, the world's second-highest mountain is known amidst climbers as one of the most technically difficult in the world. Ascents of even the easiest route require crossing a complicated glacier, ascending steep sections of rock, and negotiating a path around a serial of ice pillars, called seracs, which are prone to collapse without warning. The technical difficulty of this mountain makes it one of the nigh committing and unsafe in the world. In 2020, Viridinia Álvarez Chávez became the showtime Latina to summit K2, pressing her ascent even after watching another climber fall to his death. In that location is also a recent K2 documentary worth watching, which follows a group'south try to meridian K2 without supplemental oxygen.

3. Nanga Parbat

Where: Himalayas, Pakistan
Summit: 8,126 m (26,660 ft)

The world's 9th highest acme, Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, competes with K2 in terms of technical difficulty. The route of the first ascension follows a narrow ridge to the pinnacle. On the southern side is the largest mount face up on world, the xv,000 human foot Rupal Face up. Although the name Nanga Parbat comes from Sanskrit for "naked mount," and the pinnacle is known locally as Diamir, "male monarch of the mountains," the climbers have another proper noun for it: "The Human Eater."

iv. Kangchenjunga

Where: Himalayas, Nepal-India edge
Superlative:8.568 m (28,169 ft)

When y'all expect at the fatality rates on the globe's nearly dangerous mountains, yous'll meet that virtually subtract every bit fourth dimension goes on. One notable exception is Kangchenjunga, the third-highest summit in the world. Expiry rates averaged over 20 pct, a reflection of the barrage and and weather hazards that plague this dangerous mountain. With climate change causing yet more unstable snow conditions and extreme weather condition, death rates for the Kangchenjunga ascension could nonetheless worsen.

5. The Eiger

Where: Bernese Alps, Switzerland
Tiptop: iii,967 m (13,015 ft)

The Nordwand, or north face, of this peak in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland is an objective legendary among mountaineers for its danger. Reaching nearly 6000 feet, it is the longest due north face up in the Alps. Though information technology was first climbed in 1938, the north face of the Eiger continues to challenge climbers of all abilities with both its technical difficulties and the heavy rockfall that rakes the face. The difficulty and hazards take earned the Eiger's n face up the nickname Mordwand, or Murder Wall. The mountain was made famous in the 1975 film The Eiger Sanction in which Clint Eastwood plays an assassin who joins a climbing team on an rise of the Eiger n face to avenge the murder of a friend.

6. The Matterhorn

Where: Alps, Switzerland
Elevation: 4,478 m (fourteen,692 ft)

This iconic mountain, which looks like a horn rising out of the surrounding valleys, has one of the highest fatality rates of any peak in the Alps. This is caused past a broad range of factors, including technical difficulty, the prevalence of avalanches and rockfall, and severe overcrowding on routes during peak climbing seasons. An easier way to run across the Matterhorn would be at a safe distance by railroad train, gondola, or helicopter. Yous can even ski with stunning views of Zermatt.

seven. Vinson Massif

Where: Picket range, Antarctica
Meridian: 4,892 m (16,050 ft)

Vinson Massif, the highest mount in Antarctica, is not notable for its technical difficulty or fatality rate. However, Mountain Vinson is over xvi,000 feet loftier. That summit, combined with the isolation, farthermost cold and unpredictable weather of the Antarctic continent, makes Vinson a very serious undertaking. Even a small blow hither could be disastrous.

viii. Baintha Brakk

Where: Karakoram range, Pakistan
Elevation: seven,285 thou (23,901 ft)

Commonly known as The Ogre, Baintha Brakk in Islamic republic of pakistan is considered i of the most hard mountains to climb in the world. Though it saw its first rising in 1971, The Ogre was not summited again until 2001. Ane of the kickoff ascensionists, Doug Scott, bankrupt both of his legs on the descent, forcing him to crawl through a major storm to the team'south base army camp. This famous ballsy and more xx failed attempts on the pinnacle have earned it a reputation as ane of the most dangerous in the world.

9. Mt. Everest

Where: Himalayas, People's republic of china-Nepal border
Elevation: viii,848 m (29,029 ft)

More than 1,500 people take climbed Mt. Everest, the highest mount in the world, with equally many as 50 people or more reaching the summit on a single day. This congestion, when combined with Everest's extreme altitude, makes it an undeniably dangerous objective. While Everest regulations are now focused on cleaning upward waste and preventing more pollution, information technology is still succumbing to climate modify, which some climbers say is making information technology yet more unsafe. Congestion from too many climbers has also been a major take a chance factor, leading to multiple deaths in 2019. Everest Base Military camp'due south elevation is 5,600 meters, making that an achievement unto itself.

10. Mt. Denali

Where: Alaska Range, United States
Peak: 6,190 yard (xx,310 ft)

Mt. Denali is located in Alaska and is the highest mountain in Due north America. Information technology was officially known as Mt. McKinley from 1896 to 2015 when information technology was renamed back to its Ethnic proper name nether President Obama. Though its altitude is only 20,320 feet, its loftier latitude ways that the atmosphere is far thinner than it would be at the equator. For the many people who climb Denali each twelvemonth, the altitude, weather condition, and extreme temperature pose a serious danger. For these reasons, the success charge per unit on Denali is around 50 percent, and more than 100 climbers have died attempting the peak. The mount towers over Denali National Park, with its admirers mayhap unaware of its deadly statistics. In fact, 2018 was the starting time yr in fifteen that no ane died in the Denali range. Y'all tin can see Mt. Denali from a distance on a passenger vehicle tour of Denali National Park.

11. Fitz Roy

Where: Andes, Argentina-Chile edge
Elevation: three,405 thousand (eleven,171 ft)

Cerro Chalten, or Mount Fitz Roy, is the tallest mount in Patagonia'due south Los Glaciares National Park. Fitz Roy'south height is guarded on all sides by steep rock faces requiring difficult, technical climbing to ascend. Because of this, it was considered one of the most difficult mountains in the world for decades. Even today, the region's unpredictable weather and relative isolation make information technology extremely dangerous. Despite the number of people who may admire it on a trek through this stunning region, Fitz Roy may meet only a single ascent in a year: truly the marking of a dangerous, difficult mountain.

A version of this commodity was previously published on Oct 24, 2008, and was updated on October 29, 2020, with more information.

More like this