World's 10 Most Dangerous Mountains

Take it or leave it, this morbid article on the climbing world’s most dangerous mountains has a few interesting nuggets. Did you know that K2 is thought to have a curse against women? Or that Mt. Washington in New Hampshire is more dangerous, stats-wise, than Denali? Read on for the full scoop, a list of the World’s 10 Most Dangerous Mountains for Climbing. . .

#1. ANNAPURNA, Central Nepal (26,545 ft.)
On this mountain, the 10th highest in the world, about 130 climbers have summited the avalanche-prone peak, but 53 have died trying — making Annapurna’s fatality rate of 41% the highest in the world.

#2. NANGA PARBAT, Kashmir (26,657 ft.)
Known affectionately as the Man Eater, this craggy monster in Kashmir is an enormous ridge of rock and ice. The peak is the ninth highest in the world and its southern side features the tallest mountain face on the planet. Nanga Parbat claimed 31 lives before it was conquered by Austrian Herman Buhl in 1953.

WorldsDangerousMts-nanga.jpg

#3. SIULA GRANDE, Peruvian Andes (20,814 ft.)
In 1985, the duo of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, whose journey was chronicled in the book and film Touching the Void, attempted the western face of Siula Grande: a sheer, vertical ascent that had never been completed. They made it to the summit but Simpson fell during the descent, breaking his leg. Then Yates, lowering the injured Simpson down by rope, lost sight of him over a cliff. After an hour passed, with his position slipping away, and Simpson unable to secure himself, Yates cut the rope. Incredibly, Simpson survived the 100 ft. fall into a crevasse. Over the next three days he subsisted on melted snow and hopped the five miles back to camp, arriving shortly before Yates, assuming Simpson had perished, was due to depart for home.

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Commenting on post : World's 10 Most Dangerous Mountains
Posted by Ian - 01/22/2008 09:15 AM

What about Mount Blanc? I thought that was the No. 1 most dangerous peak in the world?

Posted by carl huseby - 09/14/2008 02:00 PM

You have not mentioned The great Trango….. why?

Posted by MountainMule - 10/09/2008 05:07 AM

Mt Cook [ Aorangi ], New Zealand’s highest peak has killed dozens of climbers. It may not rank with the Matterhorn, K2 etc, but its a killer peak.

Posted by Richard - 11/16/2008 03:32 AM

when I lived in Japan we all walked up Fuji at least yearly and each time had a walking stick that got stamped, to show how far you made it. Great fortune to those that make it to the top. I should go walk it again.

Posted by radson - 12/21/2008 05:57 PM

I think this is top ten famous mountains rather than most deadly. What statistical method was used to draw up this list. Most deaths, deaths per attempt, death per summit. The stat for Everest is baloney 9%? maybe back in the 80s but not since the days when 500 people summit a season.

Alluding to what Ian states, i am sure more people die in one season on the mt blanc Massif than a lifetime on Nanga Parbat
Quite a bogus story .

Posted by Laureen Mendelsohn - 01/25/2009 10:05 PM

The deadliest peaks are not necessarily those physical peaks that can be climbed on this earth but instead the deadliest peaks are those that are climbed by overconfident or underexperienced. I suppose if you climb even the least of the rock you take the chance you will not survive. A mountain is nothing more than a mountain. All the more reason to keep climbing and hiking!

Posted by Mazama - 05/09/2009 11:16 PM

Massif du Mont-Blanc is the most dangerous mountain, it has claimed the most lives. Why is it not in the list? Why are Fuji and Mt Washington even mentioned, is this a joke?
Have you ever climbed a mountain?

Posted by Wang - 06/13/2009 11:20 AM

radson, and more people die in car accidents than mountain climbing. What’s your fucking point, pinhead?

Posted by siraj - 06/25/2009 09:56 AM

It’s true that the K2 is the most deadliest peak.
The reason is that the valocity of air is to high and it’s hard to climb on it.Some people say that it’s an evil sprit and only great man can fight it.

Posted by Anderson - 06/30/2009 04:14 AM

There’s a gift shop at the top of Mt. Washington. Real dangerous.

Posted by zohaib - 07/12/2009 10:30 AM

k2 is also in pakistan

Posted by Ali - 07/15/2009 07:41 AM

K2 is by far the most dangerous peak in the world. With the most unpredicatble weather and huge avalanches there is no mountain which comes close to K2. Only the most experienced and skilled climbers in the world have been able to reach the summit and come back to tell the story.

Posted by NY Hiker - 07/19/2009 09:44 PM

To Anderson,,, the gift shop are for the cowards that can’t climb it,so they drive up. Don’t take away from the ppl that brave the mountain.

Posted by Mt Trekker - 07/22/2009 05:33 PM

rofl @ mount Washington being ranking just under Everest and just above Denali. Are you kidding me?! Washington is recommended for experienced “hikers”.

Posted by Brett - 09/04/2009 07:25 PM

The reason Mt. Washington is on here is because of stupid people. Every year some numb nut tries to do it without the proper gear and gets killed when the weather shifts. I’ve seen people on that mountain so unprepared that I knew if they twisted an ankle they’d be dead before someone could reach them. The fact that it has an auto road and summit building makes it worse. Gives people a false sense of security.

Posted by CommonSense - 11/23/2009 01:01 AM

The weather on Mt. Washington can suddenly turn from a sunny day to freezing with ice pelting you in 60mph winds. It’s pushed a lot of people to falls and being cut off from a safe return until it’s too late, even those properly equipped. The natives warned of the mountain, and those who “get it” have a lot of respect. It can kill you quick.

Posted by I know math - 12/04/2009 11:10 AM

Not gonna lie, I agree with a lot of what is said about these top 10 (not Mt Wash though, its a friggin mommy/daddy/little joey tourist mark). However, whats with the math on #1? “…about 130 climbers have summited the avalanche-prone peak, but 53 have died trying — making Annapurna’s fatality rate of 41% the highest in the world.” If 130 have made it, and 53 other people have died trying, that means 183 people have tried, 130 were successful and 53 died. 53/183 = 29%

Posted by Brian - 12/05/2009 06:11 AM

About the maths on No1.The article may be badly written as many climbers can die on the way down!So about 130 may have summited but all did not reach the bottom! This will throw out the percentages.

Posted by Experience - 12/08/2009 08:38 AM

Clearly the main point of discussion here is the credibility of the article. Has anyone here climbed Mt. Washington? Probably not, it seems a lot of people are basing death on elevation and remoteness. The death toll for Mt. Washington is approximately 130+/- people in and around the mountain. No other mountain on this list has weather that comes close to winter conditions on Washington. Can you stroll up it on a sunny day at age 75…yes. Can you be experienced and die in 100 mph winds and avalanches…yes. That is just science. This last part goes out to “I know Math”. I’m glad your 4th grade reasoning skills helped you deduce your answer. If you knew anything about percentages in mountain climbing deaths, they are always based on the ratio of deaths to summits, that is where 41% comes from. You can’t deduce 29% from attempts, you have no clue how many people sat at Base camp or only got to 7,000 M, etc.

Posted by Kailyn - 12/08/2009 07:57 PM

When we had to drive this year from British Columbia all the Way to Ontario for my grandma’s very late funeral (Canada) I saw the Rocky Mountains, and they looked pretty dangerous, but cool

Posted by Tom Murphy - 12/17/2009 02:51 PM

The toughest to climb doesn’t equal most dangerous. Most dangerous is most deaths OR highest percentage of deaths to attempts.

Mt. Washington is listed due to its high number of deaths but, as already mentioned, it takes a fair bit of foolishness to die there. Most of the recent deaths were due to heart attacks. These was a serious case of hypothermia a few years ago (permanent brain damage) but those boys hiked up without any layers in a cold rain.

Posted by scott - 12/31/2009 09:39 AM

Clearly only very few people have the ability to climb the first 5 peaks mentioned .so for jo average who can walk mont blonc (easy) if that person was to even attempt to climb say mount everist un aided would be guaranteed a certain death certificate , work it out for yourselves DUMMIES!!!

Posted by bailey - 02/06/2010 12:59 PM

i got annapurna for every search ive done so it must be the most dangerous !!!!

Posted by Top climbing mountains - 04/10/2010 02:31 AM

Nanga Parbat is much favoured by most climbers, but it were the Germans, who gave it the name, Murder Mountain. The explorer, Albert Frederick Mummery, was the first to venture on this mountain. Daunting and wild, bearing the onslaught of gnawing wind and torrential rain during the monsoons, Nanga Parbat is full of the dangers of the unknown. The Sherpas, localites of the Himalayan region call Nanga Parbat, “the maneater” or the ‘Mountain of the Devil’. No other peak has claimed lives with such sickening regularity and the list of tragedies is heart-wrenching. In the last century, roads have been built in the Karakoram range, but little else has changed in this region.

Posted by karka - 05/23/2010 11:49 AM

annapurna and K2 are the most dangerous… by far.

Posted by Worldwalker - 06/02/2010 12:01 PM

Yes, you have to be an idiot to die on Mt. Washington, but the fact that it’s just a few hours away from some of the largest population centers in the US provides an ample supply of idiots. Watch them starting out on any warm summer day. You’ll see people with nothing but shorts and T-shirts heading into an area which has the worst weather conditions that most city-dwellers will ever encounter. But off they go, in their shorts and T-shirts and sneakers, with no rain gear, no warm clothing, no nothing … in short, one twisted ankle and one storm away from becoming a statistic. And some of them do.

Posted by vadditwice - 06/17/2010 12:11 PM

I think some people are not getting the boint here. Most deaths doesnt eqaul most dangerous. It may just mean it is more accessible than the others. Most dangerous would be the one that has the maximum ratio of deaths to attempts. That is why the himalyan mountains feature here although total no. of deaths might be greater for Mt.Blanc.

Posted by Cristian - 07/22/2010 01:02 PM

You forgot to mention Pico de Orizaba in Mexico,I heard around 60 people died there alone!

Posted by imran - 08/02/2010 02:52 PM

pakistan is the best destination for montaineers in the wrld. seeing is believing.

Posted by Haris - 08/07/2010 04:02 AM

i agree with scot. i heard mount washington holds a race every year…try racing to summit on nanga parbat or k2 or any of the 8000 thsndrs lol…also take into account how many people dare to climb these mountains— compare the ratios between mount blanc mount wahington and any other of the asian 8 thousnaders a very few number of ppl dare to climb the asian big boys out of the total 150 53 died on Anapurna increase the scale to 500 and GOd knws how many more wud have been dead

Posted by Mike - 08/16/2010 09:24 AM

Mt. Washington is no longer the record holder for highest recorded windspeed.
Some place in Australia has topped it in the last 5 or 6 years or so.

Posted by keith douglas - 08/29/2010 09:31 AM

please let us not forget mt. elbrus in russia, it has in excess of 45 deaths per year, i climbed it last year, and conditions there can become almost artic like and very sudden, making it extremly dangerous! it definately deserves a mention!!!!!!!!

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