Climbing routes and dangers
Lhotse Shar forms the eastern highpoint of Lhotse’s central ridge, far from the main summit's standard route of ascent via the Reiss Couloir. As the ridge and Lhotse's central summits are themselves extremely difficult climbs, a traverse to the Shar along the main ridge is impractical and prospective climbers must instead ascend Lhotse’s huge vertical rise from outside the Western Cwm. Most opt for the southeastern flank of the Shar itself, or the most direct route, up Lhotse's South Face.
The steep pyramid of the Shar inevitably forces climbers across exposed rock bands and avalanche-prone slopes in all directions, and these routes have consequently seen many fatalities; indeed, of Lhotse's documented deaths as of 2021, a third (11 of 31) have occurred on Lhotse Shar. It has the highest fatality rate of all principal or secondary eight-thousander summits – for every two people who summit the mountain, one person dies attempting to. [2] The mountain's extreme height further compounds the danger: At 8,383 metres above sea level, it is 292 m (958 ft) higher than Annapurna I Main, the next-deadliest summit of the eight-thousanders, and well into the Death zone, greatly increasing the risk of altitude sickness for climbers.
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