Ranking the Deadliest Mountains: Everest, K2 & More (PHOTOS)

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Though four climbers were among those who reached the 8,848-meter summit of Mount Everest earlier this week, they never made it back to sea level. They perished climbing the peak, which has taken the lives of some 200 mountaineers since it was first ascended in 1953. As extreme climbing has grown in popularity, dangerous conditions including overcrowding and unstable conditions are making the sport more deadly.

To rank the deadliest mountains, we first whittled the list to include only the 14 primary mountains in the world that exceed an altitude of 8,000 meters, or 26,246 feet. Dubbed the “death zone,” this is the height above sea level where limited atmospheric pressure is the most severe, and oxygen levels are severely depleted. From there, we ranked the mountains based on the most consistent and reliable source of death rate, or the number of deaths per climber attempts, compiled by Ederhard Juralski. The data include climbing data through June 2008 for each mountain.

Catherine Destivelle, Sygma / Corbis

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Death rate: 1.46
Location: China/Nepal
Altitude: 8,188 meters
First ascent: 1954

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 2.27
Location: China
Altitude: 8,034 meters
First ascent: 1956

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 3.43
Location: China/Nepal
Altitude: 8,516 meters
First ascent: 1956

Dietrich Rose / Corbis

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Death rate: 5.29
Location: China/Pakistan
Altitude: 8,051 meters
First ascent: 1957

Ed Darack, Science Faction / Corbis

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Death rate: 5.7
Location: Nepal
Altitude: 8,848 meters
First ascent: 1953

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 8.39
Location: China
Altitude: 8,027 meters
First ascent: 1964

Association Chantal Mauduit Namaste, Sygma / Corbis

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Death rate: 9.43
Location: China
Altitude: 8,080 meters
First ascent: 1958

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 11.11
Location: Nepal/China
Altitude: 8,485 meters
First ascent: 1955

Ed Darack / Corbis

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Death rate: 16.2
Location: Nepal
Altitude: 8,176 meters
First ascent: 1960

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 19.14
Location: India/Nepal
Altitude: 8,586 meters
First ascent: 1955

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 22.3
Location: Pakistan
Altitude: 8,125 meters
First ascent: 1953

Earl Kowall / Corbis

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Death rate: 23.24
Location: China/Pakistan
Altitude: 8,611 meters
First ascent: 1954

Galen Rowell / Corbis

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Death rate: 37.91
Location: Nepal
Altitude: 8,091 meters
First ascent: 1950

Galen Rowell / Corbis

Ranking the Deadliest Mountains: Everest, K2 & More (PHOTOS)

The Daily Beast combs the statistics to find which mountains are responsible for the most climber deaths.

The Daily Beast