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Which mountain is most difficult to climb?

I know it's not only height but also weather etc. But would like to know according to the ratio of death of climbers and with respect to ratio of unsuccessful climbs.

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    +1, it's a factual question and there's a standard metric, the summit-to-death ratio, for it. Wikipedia claims that Annapurna I with 38% is the deadliest: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna – lambshaanxy Oct 17 '13 at 3:46
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    This question may fit better on The Great Outdoors. – gerrit Oct 17 '13 at 9:46
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    You've asked two questions here - the title asks for the highest death ratio, while the question asks for the most difficult. Most difficult doesn't necessarily translate into most deadly... – Mark Mayo Supports Monica♦ Oct 17 '13 at 11:37
  • The statistics of @jpatokal show death-to-summit ratio, while dead-to-starter ratio would be more interesting. – Bernhard Oct 17 '13 at 16:52
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    There are good records of summits and deaths, not so much for "starters", and in most major expeditions not everybody is even aiming to go to the top. And surely difficulty and deaths correlate pretty well as the sample size increased? – lambshaanxy Oct 17 '13 at 23:04
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The standard measure for a mountain's difficulty is the ratio of summits to fatalities. Per Wikipedia, as of 2009, the hardest mountain is Annapurna I in Nepal, with a ratio of 157 summit ascents and 60 deaths, or 38%.

Annapurna I, courtesy Wolfgang Meyer/Wikimedia Commons

This means that, for every five people who reached the top, two died trying (or on the way back).

I'll stick to a nice brisk walk around the park, thank you...

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