Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain. It stands in both Tibet and Nepal at 29,035 feet tall. Prior to World War II, expedition teams attempted to climb the mountain several times from the Tibetan side, and all attempts failed. After the war, the Nepalese side opened, and on May 29, 1953, a team led by Sir Edmund Hillary reached the summit.
The Korakoram mountain range is known to most as K2. It is also called Austin Godwin after a photographer who explored there. It is located on the border of China and Pakistan, and stands 28,251 feet tall. It is the second-tallest mountain in the world and is considered by some to be the world's most dangerous. Italian Ardito Deslo and his team conquered K2 in 1954.
Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. It spans 7,000 miles on the border of Nepal and India, and it stands at 28,169 feet. The mountain has five peaks, and its name means "the five treasures of the snow." Kangchenjunga's summit remains untouched as of June 2011, despite the efforts of climbers. Lhotse is the world's fourth-tallest mountain and is located on the China-Nepal border, just south of Mount Everest. Lhotse stands at 27,939 feet. It was first conquered in 1956.
Makalau is the fifth-tallest mountain in the world. It sits on the Nepal-China border and is 27,765 feet tall. It is 14 miles east of Mount Everest and stands out due to its four sharp peaks, which give it a pyramid-like appearance. It was first conquered in 1954. Cho Oyu is the world's sixth-tallest mountain. It is in eastern Nepal near the Tibetan border and stands at a height of 26,996 feet. Cho Oyu means the "Turquoise Goddess." It, too, was first climbed in 1954.
Dhaulagirl is the seventh-tallest mountain in the world, at 26,906 feet. It is located in the eastern region of the Nepalese Himalayan range, near Tibet. Dhaulagirl means "white mountain." It was first successfully climbed in 1960, after an expedition of Swiss and Austrians crashed their plane there. Manaslu is the eighth-highest mountain peak. It stands in Nepal, at a height of 26,756 feet. In 1974, it was conquered by a Japanese team, the first all-female expedition on a peak over 8,000 meters, or 26,246 feet.
Nanga Parbat, or "naked mountain," is the world's ninth-tallest mountain. It is located in Pakistan and stands at 26,660 feet. The mountain gets its name due to its rocky, jagged peaks, which can hold little snow. German explorers first discovered it in 1854. Annapurma is the 10th-tallest mountain in the world. It is in central Nepal and is a vast range that contains seven separate peaks, all of which are more than 23,000 feet tall. Its tallest peak stands at 26,545 feet. It was first climbed in 1950.
