A team of Nepali climbers made history yesterday after becoming the first to summit Pakistan's K2 in winter, singing their country's national anthem as they reached the top. 

Dozens of mountaineers have been competing over the past few weeks to summit the world's second highest mountain, the last peak above 8,000 metres (26,000 feet) to be topped in wintertime.

"WE DID IT," tweeted Seven Summit Treks, a trekking company leading one of the expeditions.

"The Karakorum's 'Savage Mountain' been summited in most dangerous season: winter. Nepalese climbers finally reached the summit of Mt K2 this afternoon at 17:00 local time."

The name "Savage Mountain" comes from the punishing conditions there -- winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius.

Since the maiden attempt in 1987-1988, just a handful of winter expeditions have been tried on the storied 8,611-metre (28,250-foot) peak in the Karakoram range along the Chinese border. None had got higher than 7,650 metres until yesterday, when the good conditions allowed the climbers to push ahead.

The 10 Nepali climbers had earlier been spread across different teams, but formed a new group in order to claim the feat in Nepal's name. The news sparked joy throughout Nepal, long used to watching foreign climbers seize the records.

One of the final technical difficulties to be overcome by the group was the dreaded "bottleneck", a narrow and steep passage where 11 people were killed in August 2008 in K2's worst known tragedy. Many climbers have died trying to reach the summit, while others were killed on the dangerous descent.

Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is a much lonelier place.

Northern Pakistan is home to some of the world's tallest mountains, including K2 in the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan.  Nestled between the western end of the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush mountains and the Karakoram range, Gilgit-Baltistan has 18 of the world's 50 highest peaks.