Nepal’s Peaks above 8,000 meters

HB Kham

Nepal’s magnificent beautiful natural topography stands in good stead to an earthly paradise for all adventurers, alpinists, trekkers and travel lovers from across the world.

Incredible enough it may be, yet what is de -facto factual is that Nepal despite being exposed to the outside world as the poor country is fortunate enough and rich enough to take pride in being the home to the world’s eighth highest mountains above 8,000m. out of total 14 such highest mountains.

These highest peaks that are cradled in the Himalayas as the crest of Nepal are Everest, Lhotse, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, and Cho Oyu. Daring adventurers and mountaineers in each season of the year come to Nepal to glorify these peaks with their indomitable courage and high spirit to summit these peaks or to relish the ecstatic moments of this earthly paradise, which is not a man-made by beautifully and naturally carved by the nature and the grace of God. The brief glimpses of all eight peaks can be illustrated as given below:

1. Mount Everest (8,848m)

Mt. Everest being the highest peaks of the world attracts and readily embraces all kinds of people without discriminating on age, geography, country, race, political consciousness, and religious dogmas. It is called “Sagarmatha” in Nepali which means “Forehead in the sky” and Chomolungma in Tibetan dialect which means ‘mother of the world’.

It became accessible to human beings after series of recurrent failed attempts made by various foreign climbers including legendary British climber George Mallory until 1924 and his associates, who staked their lives to reach atop Everest. However, these failed trodden trails finally yielded to the ultimate successful summit of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in May 1953. Since then, thousands of climbers have summited Everest so far and several world records have also been created.

2. Kanchenjunga (8,586m)

The stunningly beautiful peak of Kanchenjunga, considered to be the third-highest mountains in the world, majestically straddles in the borders of Nepal and Sikkim territory of India. This peak was successfully summited in 1955, although attempts were being made since 1905. The local people of Sikkim believe that this peak is holy and stepping on top of it would pollute it for a worse outcome to the world. So, most of the climbers end up their summit a few feet below to give honor to the belief of the locals. The same belief was prevalent before the ascent of Mt. Everest also. But no climbers paid any heed to such sayings.

3. Lhotse (8,516m)

The massif Lhotse lies 3 km south of Everest and is separated by the south col. The word Lhotse means south face. Fritz Luchsinger and Ernest Reiss had summited this peak in 1956 for the first time. It can be climbed from Everest base camp or Chhukung side

The Khumbu Icefall is the most dangerous part to climb, besides obstacles including high altitude sickness and asphyxia.

4. Makalu (8,463m)

Makalu as the fifth highest peaks in the world lies 14 miles east of Mt Everest. Its pyramid shape makes it stand out as a distinct peak of different beauty and attractions for the peak climbers and adventure lovers.

5. Cho Oyu (8,201m)

Just 3 km west of Everest and Lhotse in the Tibetan border lies Cho Oyu Mountain. The peak provides an exotic expedition from north face to summit Everest. It is considered to be one of the easiest peaks over 8000m to summit for climbers and lovers of adventure.

6. Dhaulagiri (8,167m)

As seventh-highest peaks of the world, Dhaulagiri Mountain is well known for its gigantic size and pyramid-shaped peaks besides possessing dangerous icefall and glaciers for the daring adventurers to encounter while climbing it.

7. Manaslu (8,163m)

Manaslu-the eight highest peaks of the world are located in the east of the enormous massif Annapurna Mountain. The term ‘Manaslu’ means “the mountains of the spirit in Sanskrit”. It has steep mountains to climb.

8. Annapurna (8,091m)

Annapurna, the tenth highest mountains of the world is the main lovable destination of tourists, trekkers, climbers and travel lovers these days. This mountain is regarded as the “Goddess of the Harvest” as it gives fertile soil and water to the local people. It is located to the east of the gorge created by the Kali Gandaki River.