Gurla Mandhata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gurla Mandhata (Naimona'nyi) | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 7,694 m (25,242 ft) Ranked 34th |
| Location | Tibet, China |
| Range | Nalakankar Himal, Himalaya |
| Prominence | 2,788 m (9,147 ft) |
| Coordinates | |
| First ascent | 1985 by Cirenuoji, Jiabu, Jin Junxi, K. Matsubayashi, Song Zhiyu, K. Suita, Y. Suita, T. Wada |
| Easiest route | snow/ice climb |
Gurla Mandhata, or Naimona'nyi is the highest peak of the Nalakankar Himal, a small subrange of the Himalaya in Tibet, near the northwest corner of Nepal. It is the 34th highest peak in the world (using a 500 metre prominence cutoff). It is also notable for being well within the Tibetan Plateau (most peaks of similar height lie nearer to or outside the edge of the Plateau) and relatively far away from other peaks of height greater than 7500 metres. It sits roughly across Lake Manasarowar from the sacred peak of Mount Kailas. The Tibetan name, Naimona'nyi, is said to come from naimo = "herbal medicine", na = "black", nyi = "heaped-up slabs", giving "the mountain of heaped-up slabs of black herbal medicine." (AAJ 1986:302).
In 1905 T. G. Longstaff, accompanied by two alpine guides and six porters, made an attempt on Gurla Mandhata. They turned back at around 7,000 m after being caught in an avalanche and encountering other difficulties. This was a strong achievement for the time, especially for such a small group; at that time no summit of over 7,000 m had yet been climbed.
The first ascent of the peak was by a joint Japanese/Chinese team led by Katsutoshi Hirabayashi, via the north side of the peak, in May 1985. Since that time there have been five additional successful ascents and two failed attempts on the peak, according to the Himalayan Index.
[edit] References
- American Alpine Journal (AAJ) 1986, p. 302.
- Jill Neate, High Asia, The Mountaineers, 1989.
- Himalayan Index. Alpine Club. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
[edit] External links
- A list of prominent Asian peaks
- Digital Elevation Data (Go to n30e081)
- Historical photo of Gurla Mandhata with Mount Kailas taken from Lipu Pass, on a NASA-related site
