Mountaineering
The Nepal Himalaya, extending for eight hundred kilometer from the Kangchanjunga Massif
to the Mahakali river, accounts for a third of the Himalayan mountain system.
Between these two boundaries lie more than thirteen hundred peaks with an altitude of
more than six thousand meters. Of these 127 are above seven thousand meters and eight
rise above eight thousand meters-eight of the fourteen highest peaks in the world.
1 out of 1! 8 out of 14! 22 out of 31!
Nepal, is known as the land of Mt. Everest. When I came to the US and then to Canada
from there, people would ask me where I am from. I would tell them Nepal. But then
they wouldn't know where Nepal is. Then I would ask them if they have ever heard of
Mt. Everest. Most of them would say "Yes." And I would say, "...and that's where Nepal
is. Mt. Everest is in Nepal." That would do for most people. But, some people would be
more interested in Nepal and I would tell them that Nepal not only has the highest
mountain, Mt. Everest but it has eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world and
has 22 mountains over 7600 meters high out of total of only 31.
The Eight Giants
Here is the list of all those eight giants (all above 8,000 metres):
- Mt. Everest (8,848 metres)
- Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586 meters)
- Mt. Lhotse (8,516 meters)
- Mt. Makalu (8,463 meters)
- Mt. ChuOyu (8,201 meters)
- Mt. Dhaulagiri (8,167 meters)
- Mt. Manaslu (8,163 meters)
- Mt. Annapurna (8,091 meters)
The most popular mountain in the world is, no wonder, the great Mt. Everest.
The most popular mountain in Nepal, however, is Mt. Machchhapuchhre (or Mt. Fishtail
in English). You can go to the picture page to view the
pictures of Mt. Fishtail. It is gorgeous.
Climbing the Mountains
Mountaineering first brought Nepal to the attention of the world. Long before, its great
peaks were coveted by mountaineers. The most famous ascent of course was Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa's ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953. In Nepal, 142
peaks are officially allowed to be climbed. Of these, 104 as classified as Expedition
Peaks. They are climbed by official expeditions only and involve special permit, a royalty
payment, which is not cheap even for the individual North Americans. But there are
other eighteen peaks under the designation Trekking Peaks and are accessible to climbers
only for a small fee and less complicated application procedure. But these climbs are
still serious climbs and mountaineering experience and careful preparation is necessary.
The most popular among the designated trekking peaks are Island Peak, Tent Peak, and
Mera. Some of these peaks such as Hiunchuli and Kwangde, are widely reputed for their
difficulty, with some of the world's most challenging technical routes.
