Namcha Barwa

Infobox Mountain
Name = Namcha Barwa
Photo =
Caption =
Elevation = convert|7782|m|ft|0|lk=on Ranked 28th
Location = China (Tibet)
Range = Assam Himalaya
Prominence = convert|4106|m|ft|0|abbr=on Ranked 19th
Coordinates = coord|29|37|50|N|95|03|19|E|type:mountain|display=inline,title
First ascent = 1992 by a joint expedition
Easiest route = rock/snow/ice climb
Listing = Ultra

Namcha Barwa (officially: Namjagbarwa; Tibetan in Wylie transliteration: "gnam lcags 'bar ba"; Chinese: 南迦巴瓦峰, Pinyin: "Nánjiābāwǎ Fēng") is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. It forms the eastern anchor of the Himalayan chain, and is the easternmost mountain in the world over 7,600 metres."High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks" by Jill Neate, ISBN 0-89886-238-8, pp. 1-4, 14-15]

Location

Namcha Barwa is located in the Nyingchi Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. It sits inside the "Great Bend" of the Tsangpo River, the main river of southeastern Tibet. This is a very obscure region, rarely visited by outsiders. Its sister peak Gyala Peri (also over 7,000 metres) lies across the Tsangpo to the north.

Notable features

In addition to its role as the eastern anchor of the Himalayas, Namcha Barwa is notable for its great local relief. It towers over the Tsangpo gorge, which curves from the west, through the north, and then to the east side of the mountain. For example, the drop from the summit to the river on the west side is 5,000 metres in 12 kilometres,"Namjagbarwa Mountaineering Map" (1:50,000), Chinese Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, China Mountaineering Association, 1990, ISBN 7-5031-0538-0.] while the drop to the river on the east side is 6,800 metres in about 30 kilometres. [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/dem3h.html High Asia digital elevation models] ]

Also, between 1976 and its first ascent in 1992, Namcha Barwa was the highest unclimbed independent mountain in the world."American Alpine Journal" 1993, pp. 279-280.] (Batura Sar, 7,795 metres, climbed in 1976, was the previous record holder.)

Climbing history

Namcha Barwa was first accurately located in 1912 by British surveyors. The area saw little activity by outsiders between 1913 and the 1980s. In the 1980s, several Chinese teams made serious efforts on the peak, and scouted multiple routes, but did not succeed in reaching the summit.

In 1990 a joint Japanese-Chinese expedition reconnoitered the peak,"American Alpine Journal" 1991, p. 285] and another joint expedition made an attempt in 1991, which reached 7460m but resulted in the death of one member, Hiroshi Onishi, in an avalanche."American Alpine Journal" 1992, p. 258] The following year, a third Japanese-Chinese expedition succeeded in reaching the summit. They established Base Camp on September 14, and reached the summit on October 30, after placing six camps. Their route followed the South Ridge, over the intermediate Naipun Peak. Eleven members of the expedition reached the summit, all but the expedition co-leader, Tsuneo Shigehiro. [cite web
url=http://www.jac.or.jp/english/kiroku/1992/namc92_e.htm
title=Japan China Joint Expedition
publisher=
accessdate=2007-08-05]

The [http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/hi/ Himalayan Index] lists no other ascents of this peak.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.100gogo.com/cobra.htm Chinese expedition] in the 1980s