FUNNY FACTS BEHIND THE NAMES OF 6 MOUNTAINS

cover: K2 mountain.

FUNNY FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW BEHIND THE NAMES OF 6 MOUNTAINS AROUND THE WORLD
Here are interesting and funny facts you didn’t know about six mountain names around the world:

#1 – K2
The famous K2, 8,611 m, is the world’s second highest mountain after Mount Everest. It lies in the Karakoram range located between Pakistani and Chinese territories.
In fact, this mountain has no local name! It is so remote and so inaccessible that very few local people knew of its existence. Understandably, it retains its original name derived from the notation used by a British surveyor who made the first survey of the Karakoram mountains and sketched the two most prominent peaks, K1 and K2, where K stands for Karakoram.
It is one of the deadliest mountains on the globe: approximately one person dies on the mountain for every four who reach the summit.

#2 – Mount Disappointment
This mountain is located in Victoria, Australia, with an altitude of 800 m. The two explorers who first reached its summit in 1824, Hamilton Hume and William Hovell, found the view to be very disappointing, and so they decided to reflect their feelings in the name they chose for it. The mountain is now a popular hiking spot.

#3 – Mount Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
Obviously notable for its unusually long name, this hill is only 305 m high, located in New Zealand. According to World Atlas, this is the longest place name found in any English-speaking country, and possibly the longest place name in the world. The name of the hill, composed of 85 characters, has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest place name.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu translates literally into “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one”. The name is often shortened to Taumata for brevity.

#4 – Mount Kosciuszko
Mount Kosciuszko (elevation 2,209 m) was thought to be the highest mountain in Australia until Mount Townsend (elevation 2,228 m) was found to be slightly higher. Rather than re-educating the public that Townsend was the new highest mountain, the local authorities in New South Wales, Australia, simply switched their names!

#5 – Grand Teton Mountain
Grand Teton is the highest peak in the Teton range in Wyoming, USA. It is located within the Grand Teton national park and has an altitude of 4,199 m. The park is a popular American destination for mountaineering, hiking, fishing and recreational activities.
“Teton” is French slang for breast. French trappers, who thought the Teton mountains resembled breasts, are responsible for naming the three peaks now known as the South, Middle, and Grand Teton. They called the mountains “Les Trois Tetons,” or “The Three Breasts.” The Grand Teton, highest of the three, literally means “the big tit.”
It is believed that thousands of climbers attempt the Grand Teton summit each year.

#6 – Ha Ling Peak
Ha Ling Peak, 2,407 m, is a mountain in Alberta, Canada. Ha Ling was the first to climb it and had named it himself. It was previously named “Chinaman’s Peak” but the name was changed as the term is noted as offensive and associated with discrimination to Chinese people and other Asians.

Main source:
www.kickassfacts.com

Helen Mounzer
Environmental Expert,
MSc. In Management and Conservation of Natural Resources