- Lhotse
Infobox Mountain
Name = Lhotse
Photo = LhotseMountain.jos.500pix.jpg
Caption = The South Face of Lhotse as seen from the climb up toChukhung Ri .
Elevation = convert|8516|m|ft|0|lk=onA height of 8,501 m is sometimes given but official Nepalese and Chinese mapping agree on 8,516 m.]
Ranked 4th
Location =flagcountry|Nepal (Khumbu )
flagicon|PRC China (Tibet)
Range =Himalaya
Prominence = convert|610|m|ft|0|abbr=on
Coordinates = coord|27|58|N|86|56|E|type:mountain|display=inline,title
First ascent =May 18 1956
flagicon|CHFritz Luchsinger
flagicon|CHErnst Reiss
Easiest route = glacier/snow/ice climb
Listing =Eight-thousander Lhotse (in Nepal officially ल्होत्से, in China officially Lhozê; Tibetan in
Wylie transliteration : "lho rtse"; Chinese: 洛子峰,Pinyin : "Luòzǐ Fēng") is the fourth highestmountain onEarth (afterMount Everest ,K2 andKangchenjunga ) and is connected to Everest via theSouth Col . In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres above sea level, Lhotse Middle (East) is 8,414 metres and Lhotse Shar is 8,383 metres. It is located at the border between Tibet (China) andNepal .Notable Features
Lhotse is best known for its proximity to Mount Everest and the fact that climbers ascending the standard route on that peak spend some time on its northwest face, see below. In fact Lhotse has one of the smallest
topographic prominence values of any officialeight-thousander , as it rises only 610 m (2,000 ft) above the South Col. Hence it is often seen as a minor eight-thousander.However, Lhotse is a dramatic peak in its own right, due to its tremendous south face. This rises 3.2 km (1.98 mi) in only 2.25 km (1.4 mi) of horizontal distance, making it the steepest face of this size in the world. The south face has been the scene of many failed attempts, some notable fatalities, and very few ascents (one of them, by Tomo Česen, unverified).
Climbing
An early attempt on Lhotse was by the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, headed by Norman Dyhrenfurth. It also included two Austrians (cartographer Erwin Schneider and Ernst Senn) and two Swiss (Bruno Spirig and Arthur Spöhel), and was the first expedition in the Everest area to include Americans (
Fred Beckey , George Bell, and Richard McGowan). The Nepalese liaison officer was Gaya Nanda Vaidya. They were accompanied by 200 local porters and several climbingSherpa s. After a brief look at the dangerous southern approaches of Lhotse Shar, they turned their attention, during September and October, to the West Cwm and the northwest face of Lhotse, on which they achieved an altitude of about convert|8100|m|ft|-2. They were beaten back by unexpectedly strong wind and cold temperatures. Under Schneider's direction they completed the first map of the Everest area (1:50,000photogrammetric ). The expedition also made several short films covering local cultural topics, and made a number of first ascents of smaller peaks in theKhumbu region.cite journal
title = Lhotse 1955
journal = American Alpine Journal, 1956
volume = 10
issue = 2
pages = 7 ]The main summit of Lhotse was first climbed on
May 18 ,1956 by the Swiss team ofErnst Reiss andFritz Luchsinger from the Swiss Mount Everest/Lhotse Expedition. [http://www.sfar-evev06.ch/en/expeditions/everest_lhotse56.html First ascent of Lhotse] ] OnMay 12 ,1979 , Zepp Maierl and Rolf Walter ofAustria made the first ascent of Lhotse Shar. Lhotse Middle remained, for a long time, the highest unclimbed named point on Earth; onMay 23 ,2001 , its first ascent was made by Eugeny Vinogradsky, Sergei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov of aRussia n expedition.On
31 December 1988 ,Krzysztof Wielicki , a Polish climber, completed the firstwinter ascent of Lhotse.As of October
2003 , 243 climbers have summitted Lhotse and 11 have died.Timeline
* 1955 Attempt by the International Himalayan Expedition.
* 1956 First ascent of the main summit.
* 1965 First attempt on Lhotse Shar by aJapan ese expedition - reached 8,100m.
* 1979 First ascent of Lhotse Shar by Jerzy Kukuczka
* 1981April 30 Second ascent of the main summit byHristo Prodanov ,Bulgaria .
* 1981October 16 Second ascent of Lhotse SharSwitzerland
* 1984May 20 Third ascent of Lhotse SharCzechoslovakia
* 1989Jerzy Kukuczka perishes while climbing the South Face of Lhotse, when his secondhand rope breaks.
* 1996Chantal Mauduit becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Lhotse.
* 2001 First ascent of Lhotse Middle.
* 2007Pemba Doma Sherpa ,Nepal i mountaineer and two-time summiter of Mt. Everest, falls to her death from Lhotse at 8000 m [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6684649.stm Famous female Nepal climber dead] ]Lhotse Middle
Lhotse Middle was first climbed in 2001 by three groups of
Russia n climbers. At the time it was the last unclimbed named eight thousand metre summit. [http://www.k2news.com/lhmid01.htm First ascent of Lhotse Middle] ]The 2001 climb was not the first expedition to the peak; the idea of its ascent was originated by Vladimir Bashkirov (who died in an avalanche in a 1997 expedition). [http://www.russianclimb.com/middle_lhotse.html First ascent of Lhotse Middle] (with route map)]
Lhotse Face
The western flank of Lhotse is known as the "Lhotse Face". Any climber bound for the South Col on Everest must climb this 1,125m (3,700ft) wall of glacial blue ice. This face rises at 40 and 50 degree pitches with the occasional 80 degree bulges. High altitude climbing Sherpas and the lead climbers will set fixed ropes up this big wall of ice. Climbers and porters need to establish a good rhythm of
front-pointing and pulling themselves up the ropes using theirJumar . Two rocky sections called the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur interrupt the icy ascent on the upper part of the face.Notes
External links
* [http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=153 Lhotse on Peakware]
* [http://www.gonomad.com/alternatives/0602/everest.html Hiking by Lhotse and Everest, GoNOMAD feature article]
* [http://www.8000ers.com/cms/content/view/55/194/ Ascents and fatalities statistics]
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