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Standing 8,611 metres above sea level in the Karakorum group of the Himalayas, K2 is the world’s second-highest mountain after Everest. The summit was reached for the first time by the Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli on 31 July 1954. The mountaineers were in the Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, with the key help of Walter Bonatti, even if the merit naturally goes to the group as a whole. From that moment on, K2 became for all the Italians’ mountain.