Annapurna (26,545 feet or 8,091 metres)
Annapurna is a Sanskrit name which literally means "full of food", but is normally translated as Goddess of the Harvests. Located east of a great gorge that cuts through the Himalaya Mountains, its peaks are not the tallest in the world, but they are considered the most dangerous to climb. As of 2007, there had been 153 summit ascents of Annapurna I, and 58 fatalities, giving the mountain a fatality to summit ratio of 38%--the highest of any of the eight-thousanders.
Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet or 8,126 metres)
Nanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range. Its name translates to "Naked Mountain". On July 12, 2009, after reaching the top of Nanga Parbat, South Korean climber Go Mi-Young fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather. She had been one of the leaders in the quest to become the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest peaks. Nanga Parbat has never been climbed in winter.
Manaslu (26,759 feet or 8,156 metres)
Set in the northern Himalayan range in the Gorkha land of Nepal, Manaslu has been described as a serrated "wall of snow and ice hanging in the sky." Its name, which means "Mountain of the Spirit", comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul".
Dhaulagiri (26,795 feet or 8,167 metres)
In terms of rise above local terrain, Dhaulagiri is almost unparalleled in the world. It rises 7000 metres over the Kali Gandaki gorge to the southeast in about 30 km of horizontal distance. The Kali Gandaki is especially dramatic since Dhaulagiri and Annapurna both stand near the river, giving a unique example of two eight-thousanders facing each other over a deep valley.
Cho Oyu (26,906 feet or 8,201 metres)
Just a few kilometres west of Cho Oyu is Nangpa La (5,716m/18,753 ft), a glaciated pass that serves as the main trading route between the Tibetans and the Khumbu's Sherpas. Due to its proximity to this pass and the generally moderate slopes of the standard northwest ridge route, some climbers consider Cho Oyu to be the easiest 8,000 metre peak to climb, and it is a popular objective for professionally guided parties. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan.
Makalu (27,825 feet or 8,481 metres)
An isolated peak whose shape is a four-sided pyramid, Makalu is considered one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb. The mountain is notorious for its steep pitches and knife-edged ridges that are completely open to the elements.
Lhotse (27,940 feet or 8,516 metres)
Lhotse is best known for its proximity to Mount Everest and the fact that climbers ascending the standard route on that peak spend some time on its northwest face. However, Lhotse is a dramatic peak in its own right, due to its tremendous south face which rises 3.2 km (2.0 mi) in only 2.25 km (1.4 mi) of horizontal distance, making it the steepest face of this size in the world.
Kangchenjunga (28,169 feet or 8,586 metres)
Kangchenjunga translated means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on May 25, 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band, who were part of a British expedition. The British expedition honoured the beliefs of the Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Most successful summit parties since then have followed this tradition.
K2 (28,251 feet or 8,611 metres)
known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of ascent, K2, located on the border between Xinjiang, China and Gilgit, Pakistan, has the 2nd highest fatality rate among "eight thousanders". For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying. K2 has never successfully been climbed in winter.
Mount Everest (29,029 feet or 8,848 metres)
At 8,848 meters above sea level, Mount Everest, or Mount Chomolungma, is the world's tallest mountain. The government of Nepal requires all prospective climbers to obtain an expensive permit, costing as much as US $25,000 per person. Still, hundreds of climbers scale the mountain each year, led my professional mountain guides. Everest does not pose substantial technical climbing difficulties on the standard route (other mountains such as K2 and Nanga Parbat are, technically, much more difficult), but a climb to the top of the world's highest peak involves many dangers such as altitude sickness, extreme weather and powerful winds. Conditions are so difficult in the death zone (altitudes higher than 8,000 meters) that most corpses have simply been left where they fell. Some are still visible from standard climbing routes.
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