Shishapangma,[7][8] also called Gosainthān, is the 14th highest mountain in the world at 8,027 metres (26,335ft) above sea level. It was the last 8,000 metre peak to be climbed, due to its location entirely within Tibet and the restrictions on visits by foreign travelers to the region imposed by authorities of the Government of China and of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Geologist Toni Hagen explained the name as meaning a "grassy plain" or "meadow" (pangma) above a "comb" or a "range" (shisha or chisa) in the local Tibetan dialect, thereby signifying the "crest above the grassy plains".[9][10]
On the other hand, Tibetologist Guntram Hazod records a local story that explains the mountain's name in terms of its literal meaning in the Standard Tibetan language: shisha, which means "meat of an animal that died of natural causes", and sbangma which means "malt dregs left over from brewing beer". According to the story, one year a heavy snowfall killed most of the animals at pasture. All that the people living near the mountain had to eat was the meat of the dead animals and the malt dregs left over from brewing beer, and so the mountain was named Shisha Pangma (shisha sbangma), signifiying "meat of dead animals and malty dregs".[11]
The Sanskrit name of the mountain, Gosainthan, means "place of the saint" or "Abode of God".[12] Still, its most common name is Shishapangma.
Geography
Shishapangma is located in south-central Tibet, five kilometres from the border with Nepal. It is the only eight-thousander entirely within Chinese territory. It is also the highest peak in the Jugal Himal which is contiguous with and often considered part of Langtang Himal.[13] The Jugal/Langtang Himal straddles the Tibet/Nepal border. Since Shishapangma is on the dry north side of the Himalayan crest and further from the lower terrain of Nepal, it has less dramatic vertical relief than most major Himalayan peaks.
Shishapangma has a subsidiary peak higher than 8,000m: Central-Peak at 8,008m (26,273ft).[3]
Ascents and attempts
Some of Shishapangma's ascents are not well verified, or still in dispute. Some climbers claim to have reached the summit when in fact they reached the slightly lower central (west) summit at 8,013m (26,289ft), which is still almost two hours climbing from the 14-metre-higher (46ft), true summit of 8,027m (26,335ft).[14] Respected Himalayan chronicler and record keeper, Elizabeth Hawley,[15][16] famously got Ed Viesturs (amongst others), to re-climb the true main summit of Shishapangma in his quest to climb all 14 eight-thousanders. Her "Himalayan Database" would not accept central (west) summit ascents as full ascents of Shishapangma.[17]
Thirty-one people have died climbing Shishapangma, including Americans Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges in 1999, veteran Portuguese climber Bruno Carvalho and also noted Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov, who disappeared on 3 May 2018. Nevertheless, Shishapangma is regarded as one of the easiest eight-thousanders to climb. The most common ascent via the Northern Route ascends via the northwest face and northeast ridge and face, and has relatively easy access, with vehicle travel possible to base camp at 5,000m (16,400ft). Routes on the steeper southwest face are more technically demanding and involve 2,200 metres (7,220ft) of ascent on a 50-degree slope.
First ascent
Shishapangma was first climbed via the Northern Route on 2 May 1964 by a Chinese expedition led by Xǔ Jìng. In addition to Xǔ Jìng, the summit team consisted of Zhāng Jùnyán, Wang Fuzhou, Wū Zōngyuè, Chén Sān, Soinam Dorjê, Chéng Tiānliàng, Migmar Zhaxi, Dorjê, and Yún Dēng.[12][18]
Later ascents and attempts
1980 7 May, "Northern Route", (second ascent) by Michael Dacher, Wolfgang Schaffert, Gunter Sturm, Fritz Zintl, Sigi Hupfauer and Manfred Sturm (12 May); as part of a German expedition.[19]
1980: 13 October, "Northern Route", (3rd ascent) by Ewald Putz and Egon Obojes, as part of an Austrian expedition.[20]
1981: 30 April, "Northern Route", (4th ascent) by Junko Tabei, Rinzing Phinzo and Gyalbu Jiabu, as part of a Japanese women's expedition.[20]
1981: 28 May, "Northern Route", (5th ascent) by Reinhold Messner and Friedl Mutschlechner, as part of an Austrian expedition.[20]
1987: 18 September,[21][22][23] Elsa Ávila and Carlos Carsolio become the first Mexicans to summit Shishapangma. For Ávila, her first eight-thousander and for Carsolio, his second, via the northern face/ridge to the central summit, then along the arete to the main summit, with Wanda Rutkiewicz, Ramiro Navarrete, and Ryszard Warecki.[20][21][22]
1987: 18 September, west ridge, FA by Jerzy Kukuczka and Artur Hajzer (both Poland). A new route along the ridge west, by the western summit (first entry) and continue through by the middle summit on the main summit. Kukuczka skied down from near the summit. This was his last of fourteen eight-thousanders.[20][21][22][23]
1987: 19 September, central couloir, north face, FA by Alan Hinkes (UK) and Steve Untch (US).[20][21][22][23]
1989: 19 October, Central buttress, southwest face, FA by Andrej Stremfelj and Pavle Kozjek.[21][22][23][24]
1999: 28 September, Edmond Joyeusaz (Italy) first ski descent from central summit.
2002: 5 May, "Korean Route" on southwest face, FA by Park Jun Hun and Kang Yeon Ryoung (both South Korea).[24]
2002 26 October: Tomaž Humar(Slovenia), Maxut Zhumayev, Denis Urubko, Alexey Raspopov and Vassily Pivtsov got to the summit. Tomaž Humar climbed last 200 m (80°/50–60°, 200 m) of ascent and descent (65–75°, 700 m)
2004: 11 December, Jean-Christophe Lafaille (France) provokes controversy when he climbs the "British Route" on the southwest face, solo, and claims a winter ascent. Since this was not calendar winter, he changes his claim to an ascent "in winter conditions."[27]
2011: 16–17 April, Ueli Steck (Switzerland) solos the southwest face in 10.5 hours, leaving base camp (5,306m) at 10:30 pm on 16 April and returning to base camp 20 hours later.[28][29]
2014: September 24, Sebastian Haag died together with the Italian mountaineer Andrea Zambaldi in an avalanche.[30] Haag was 36 years old.[31]
2018: May 3, Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov disappeared after having been last seen at Camp 3 (~7,400 m). A subsequent two-week long search effort found only a few personal items and medicine.[32]
Bibliography
A Photographic record of the Mount Shisha Pangma Scientific Expedition. Science Press Peking 1966.
Scott, Doug; MacIntyre, Alex (2000) [1984]. Shisha Pangma: The Alpine Style First Ascent of the South-West Face. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. ISBN0-89886-723-1.
Venables, Stephen; Fanshawe, Andy (1996). Himalaya Alpine-Style: The Most Challenging Routes on the Highest Peaks. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. ISBN0-89886-456-9.
Sale, Richard, Cleare, John: On Top of the World (Climbing the World's 14 Highest Mountains), lists of ascents, HarperCollins Publ., 2000, ISBN978-0-00-220176-6.
↑ If a mountaineer wants worldwide recognition that they have reached the summit of some of the most formidable mountains in the world, they will need to get the approval of Elizabeth Hawley. "Elizabeth Hawley, unrivalled Himalayan record keeper". BBC News. 29 August 2010.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R. Sale, J. Cleare: On top of the world. Climbing the world's 14 highest mountains, lists of ascents, HarperCollins Publ., 2000, page 221
1 2 3 4 5 6 himalaya-info.org List of significant ascents of Shisha Pangma,(with further links to pdf files with details)
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world. It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal delimited in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies between Nepal and Sikkim, India, with three of the five peaks directly on the border, and the remaining two in Nepal's Taplejung District.
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. Part of the Everest massif, Lhotse is connected to the latter peak via the South Col. Lhotse means "South Peak" in Tibetan. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) above sea level, the mountain comprises the smaller peaks Lhotse Middle (East) at 8,414 m (27,605 ft), and Lhotse Shar at 8,383 m (27,503 ft). The summit is on the border between Tibet of China and the Khumbu region of Nepal.
Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world at 8,485 metres (27,838 ft). It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19 km (12 mi) southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. One of the eight-thousanders, Makalu is an isolated peak whose shape is a four-sided pyramid.
Cho Oyu is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 8,188 metres (26,864 ft) above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China–Nepal border.
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation or UIAA recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent from neighbouring peaks. However, there is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and, since 2012, the UIAA has been involved in a process to consider whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountains. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits are in the death zone.
The Dhaulagiri massif in Nepal extends 120 km (70 mi) from the Kaligandaki River west to the Bheri. This massif is bounded on the north and southwest by tributaries of the Bheri River and on the southeast by the Myagdi Khola. Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at 8,167 metres (26,795 ft) above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian/Nepali expedition.
Gasherbrum I, surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at 8,080 metres (26,510 ft) above sea level. It is located in Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the Gasherbrum massif, located in the Karakoram region of the Himalaya. Gasherbrum is often claimed to mean "Shining Wall", presumably a reference to the highly visible face of the neighboring peak Gasherbrum IV; but in fact it comes from "rgasha" (beautiful) + "brum" (mountain) in Balti, hence it actually means "beautiful mountain."
Alan Hinkes OBE is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first and remains the only British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders, which he did on 30 May 2005.
Edurne Pasaban Lizarribar is a Basque Spanish mountaineer. On May 17, 2010, she became the 21st person and the first woman to climb all of the fourteen eight-thousander peaks in the World. Her first 8,000 peak had been achieved 9 years earlier, on May 23, 2001, when she climbed to the summit of Mount Everest.
Himalchuli is the second highest mountain in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies south of Manaslu, one of the Eight-thousanders. Himalchuli has three main peaks: East, West and North. It is also often written as two words, "Himal Chuli".
Langtang Lirung is the highest peak of the Langtang Himal, which is a subrange of the Nepalese Himalayas, southwest of the Eight-thousander Shishapangma.
Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber. Anker suffered a widow maker heart attack in 2016 during an attempted ascent of Lunag Ri with David Lama. Anker was flown via air ambulance to Kathmandu where he underwent emergent coronary angioplasty with a stent placed in his proximal left anterior descending artery. Afterwards he retired from high altitude mountaineering, but otherwise he continues his work. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Elizabeth Hawley was an American journalist, author, and chronicler of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. Hawley's The Himalayan Database became the unofficial record for climbs in the Nepalese Himalaya. She was also the honorary consul in Nepal for New Zealand.
Benoît Chamoux was a French Alpinist, who claimed to have summited 13 of the Eight-thousanders in the Himalayas.
Jimmy Chin is an American professional climber, photographer, and Academy Award-winning film director.
Simone Moro is an Italian alpinist known for having made first winter ascents of four of the fourteen eight-thousanders: Shishapangma in 2005, Makalu in 2009, Gasherbrum II in 2011, and Nanga Parbat in 2016. He has also summited Everest four times, in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2010.
Andrew James Lock OAM is an Australian high-altitude mountaineer. He became the first, and still remains the only, Australian to climb all 14 "eight-thousanders" on 2 October 2009, and is the 18th person to ever complete this feat. He climbed 13 of the 14 without using bottled oxygen, only using it on Mount Everest, which he has summited twice. He retired from eight-thousander climbing in 2012.
Ralf Dujmovits is a German mountaineer. In May 2009 he became the 16th person, and the first German, to climb the 14 eight-thousanders.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
