First Japanese to climb 14 peaks above 8000m has nightmarish experience

Hirotaka Takeuchi

Kathmandu: Hirotaka Takeuchi is the first Japanese mountaineer to climb atop 14 peaks above 8000 meters.

Recently, during a program held at the Japanese embassy in Kathmandu Hirotaka via a documentary shared his nightmarish experience related to climbing the peak of Mt. Gashabrum in Pakistan when an avalanche suddenly swept him some 300 meters, buried him completely and broke his ribs.

Two German climbers were killed in the same avalanche and third was seriously injured. Hirotaka was dug out by other mountaineers and rescued by a helicopter in that incident.

While expressing his past nightmarish experiences, Hirotaka’s face sometimes reflected the joy and reflected sadness also. Participants silently listened to his story. However, he looked optimistic.

He also said that he would continue to climb the mountains in the future too, although his aging problem has caused a little discomfort in climbing the mountains.

He also expressed his pessimistic feeling against increasing adverse effects on the mountains in the Himalaya region due to climate changes.

Of the 14 peaks above 8000meters found in the world, the highest peaks- Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, and Annapurna are situated in Nepal. Hardly, 30 climbers have climbed these 14 peaks so far.