5 MOST DANGEROUS MOUNTAINS IN THE WORLD

Andrea Hausold - Jul 27, 2009
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Fabulous views, harsh snowstorms, adrenaline fun – that is how the mountains are perceived by many rock-climbers. Temptation being stronger than anything else. They risk their lives to reach the top. Matador Trips announced the most dangerous mountains for climbers. Check out the top 5 with Tourism-review.com. 

5/ The Eiger (Switzerland)

3,970 metres (13,025 ft)

Let’s move to the Alps. The Nordwand, the North face of The Eiger is known by the rock-climbers for its danger and difficulty. In 1938 the first rock-climbers ascended its peak, since then the North face is very tempting for many rock-climbers who nicknamed the North face the Mordwand, or Murder Wall. In a tunnel inside the Eiger there runs the Jungfraubahn railway and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows in the mountainside. The railway terminates at Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in Europe.

4/ Kangchenjunga (Nepal, India)

8,586 metres (28,169 ft)
3rd highest

The fatality rates decrease as time goes on which is unfortunately not the case of Kangchenjunga, or “The Five Treasures of Snows”, where the fatality rate reached 22% in recent years. This is mostly because of avalanches and hazardous weather conditions. The mountain was first climbed in 1955 by a British expedition who honoured the beliefs of the local Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Many summit parties since then have followed this tradition.

3/ Nanga Parbat (Pakistan)

8,126 metres (26,660 ft)
9th highest

Nanga Parbat is the third highest peek in the world. It competes with K2 in the technical difficulty. The ascent route follows a very narrow ridge to the peek. The largest mountain face on earth is to be found on the southern side of the mountain. The so called Rupal Face is 4,600 meters high above its base. Because of the degree of difficulty to climb and because of the face the mountain is often called as “The Man Eater.”

2/ K2 (Pakistan, China)

8,611 metres (28,251 ft)
2nd highest

K2 of the Karakoram range, also called the Savage Mountain, is the world’s second highest mountain and it is also known to be one of the most dangerous. Even if you take the easiest route it requires crossing complicated glacier, ascending steep rocks and negotiating a path with ice pillars that can anytime collapse without warning. The fatality rate is here also very high – for every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying.

1/ Annapurna (Nepal)

8,091 metres (26,545 ft)
10th highest

130 people climbed Annapurna, or the Goddess of the Harvests, since the first ascent in 1950. 53 people died trying to reach its peak and today the fatality rate is 40%. Although Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world this high fatality makes it also the most statistically dangerous peak to climb among the eight-thousanders.

Brought to you by Tourism-Review.com, the tourism news provider for the travel trade community worldwide. Visit www.tourism-review.com.

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