Overview

Overview

Kanchenjunga at 8598m is the third highest mountain in the world after Mt. Everest and Mt. K2. Situated in eastern Nepal it was first climbed by a British team in 1956. It is an enormous mountain mass and many satellite peaks rise from its narrow icy ridges. It is located on the border of Nepal and Sikkim, just 46 miles northwest of Darjeeling. It is the most easterly of the great 8,000 meter peaks of the Himalaya. The peak consists of four summits. Kanchenjunga actually consists of 5 peaks, four of which are over 8000m. The west summit, Yalung Kang, is 8420m high and some people classify it as a separate 8000m peak.

The first Westerner to explore Kanchenjunga was the British botanist JD Hooker  who visited the area twice in 1848 and 1849. Exploration of the Sikkim side of the peak continued with both British and pundit explorers mapping and photographing until 1899. In that year a party led by Douglas Freshfield made a circuit of Kanchenjunga and produced what is still one of the most authoritative maps of the region.

The Japanese now took up the challenge and mounted Kanchenjunga expeditions in 1976, 1973 and 1974 during which they climbed Yalung Kang. A German Expedition climbed Yalung Kang in 1975and in 1977 an Indian army team mounted the second successful expedition to the main peak of Kanchenjunga.

The route North Face route is definitely the safest, although not the easiest. An expedition in Nepal to Kanchenjunga begins from a charming base camp in the meadows of Panorama at 5180m. The first challenge is to fix lines up 900m of intricate mixed climbing to the North col. This provides the most challenging climbing of the expedition. Once having created a lifeline to and from the North Col you can begin the long process of establishing three camps up the long and complicated north ridge. Using Sherpa support and oxygen you can move at a systematically slow velocity higher and higher up the mountain. A Nepal expedition here is a highly satisfying climb for the expert climber.