The Mountain More Deadly Than Everest
Mount Everest sure gets a lot of hype. Countless movies, documentaries, books have been made about it, and even a ride at Disney World has been named after it. And if you polled the average person on the street, most would say Everest when asked to name a mountain. But Everest, though it’s so well-known as a dangerous summit, is not the deadliest mountain in the world. It’s not even the second or third deadliest. The title of the deadliest mountain in the world goes to a close cousin of Everest, Annapurna I.
Like Everest, Annapurna I is a peak in the Himalayas, in north-central Nepal, and one of four main summits in the Annapurna massif. Annapurna is one of 14 eight-thousand meter peaks across the globe, and the first “eight-thousander” successfully summited, a feat accomplished by French climbers in 1950.
Although only the tenth tallest mountain peak in the world, Annapurna I is the deadliest when considering the ratio of summits to deaths. Of the 191 climbers who have summited the mountain, 63 have died, making the fatality rate 33%. Everest’s 4% fatality rate pales in comparison.
