Dhaulagiri Mountain

Dhaulagiri Mountain

Dhaulagiri, Mountin

The Dhaulagiri massif in Nepal extends 120 km (70 mi) from the Kaligandaki River west to the Bheri. This massif is bounded on the north and southwest by tributaries of the Bheri River and on the southeast by Myagdi Khola. Dhaulagiri Iis the seventh highest mountain in the world at 8,167 metres (26,795 ft)above sea level. It was first climbed on May 13, 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian/Nepali expedition. The mountain’s name is dhaulagiri in Nepali. This comes from Sanskrit where "dhawala" means dazzling, white, beautiful and "giri" means mountain.Dhaulagiri I is also the highest point of the Gandaki river basin. Annapurna I (8,091m/26,545 ft) is only 34 km. east of Dhaulagiri I. The Kali Gandaki River flows between through its notable gorge, said to be the world’s deepest. The town of Pokhara is south of the Annapurnas, an important regional center and the gateway for climbers and trekkers visiting both ranges as well as a tourist destination in its own right.

Geography

Dhaulagiri range looking west from Poon Hill Looking north from the plains of India, most 8,000-metre peaks are obscured by nearer mountains, but in clear weather Dhaulagiri I is conspicuous from northern Bihar and as far south as Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. In 1808 A.D. survey computations showed it to be the highest mountain yet surveyed. This lasted until 1838 when Kangchenjunga took its place, followed by Mount Everest in 1858. Dhaulagiri I’s sudden rise from lower terrain is almost unequaled. It rises 7,000 m (22,970 ft) from the Kali Gandaki River 30 km to the southeast. The south and west faces rise precipitously over 4,000 m (13,120 ft). The south face of Gurja Himal in the same massif is also notably immense.

Dhaulagiri I climbing history

Dhaulagiri I in October 2002. The northeast ridge is the left skyline. Most ascents have followed the northeast ridge route of the first ascent, but climbs have been made from most directions. As of 2007 there had been 358 successful ascents and 58 fatalities. Between 1950 and 2006, 2.88% of 2,016 expedition members and staff going above base camp on Dhaulagiri I died. On all 8,000 metre peaks in Nepal the death rate was 1.63%, ranging from 0.65% on Cho Oyu to 4.04% on Annapurna I and 3.05% on Manaslu.

Timeline

• 1950 – Dhaulagiri I reconnoitered by a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog. They do not see a               feasible route and switch to Annapurna, where they make the first ascent of an 8000 m peak.

• 1953–1958 – Five expeditions attempt the north face, or “Pear Buttress”, route.

• 1959 – Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravec makes the first attempt on the northeast ridge.

• 1960 – Swiss-Austrian expedition led by Max Eiselin, successful ascent by Kurt Diemberger, P.                    Diener, E. Forrer, A. Schelbert, Nyima Dorje Sherpa, Nawang     Dorje Sherpa on May 13.                  First Himalayan climb supported by a fixed-wing aircraft, which eventually crashed in                        Hidden Valley north of the mountain during   takeoff and was abandoned.

• 1969 – American team led by Boyd Everett attempt southeast ridge; seven team members, including              Everett, are killed in an avalanche.

• 1970 – second ascent, via the northeast ridge by a Japanese expedition led by Tokufu Ohta and                       Shoji Imanari. Tetsuji Kawada and Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa reach   the summit.

• 1973 – American team led by James Morrissey makes third ascent via the northeast ridge. Summit               team: John Roskelley, Louis Reichardt, David Peterson, Craig   Anderson, Terry Beck, and                 Nawang Samden Sherpa.

• 1975 – Japanese team led by Takashi Amemiya attempts southwest ridge (also known as the south               pillar). Six are killed in an avalanche.

• 1976 Italian expedition makes the fourth ascent.

• 1977 International team led by Reinhold Messner attempts the south face.

• 1978, spring: Amemiya returns with an expedition that puts five members on the summit via the                  southwest ridge—the first ascent not using the northeast ridge. One team member dies during              the ascent.

• 1978, autumn – Seiko Tanaka of Japan leads successful climb of the very difficult southeast ridge.              Four are killed during the ascent. French team attempts the southwest buttress (also called the              “south buttress”), only reaches 7,200 m.

• 1980 – A four-man team consisting of Polish climbers Voytek Kurtyka, Ludwik Wiczyczynski,                   Frenchman René Ghilini and Scotsman Alex MacIntyre climb the east face, topping out at                   7,500 m on the northeast ridge. After a bivouac they descend back to base camp in a storm.                One week later they climb the mountain via the northeast ridge reaching the summit on May                18.

• 1981 – Yugoslav team reaches 7,950 m after putting up the first route on the true south face of the              mountain, on the right side, connecting with the southeast ridge. They climb in alpine style but            suffer four days of open bivouacs and six days without food before returning. Hironobu                        Kamuro of Japan reaches the summit alone, via the normal route.

• 1982, 13 December - Two members (Akio Koizumi and Wangchu Shelpa) of Japanese team led by            Prof. Jun Arima of the Academic Alpine Club of Hokkaido University reach the summit. By the         world calendar, winter begins December 21, so this was not a winter but a very-late-autumn-               climb. However the climb was done under a winter climbing permit, which the Nepali                          government issues for climbs beginning on or after December 1.

• 1984 – Three members of the Czechoslovakian expedition (J. Simon, K. Jakes, J. Stejskal) climb                   the west face to the summit. J. Simon died during the descent.

• 1985 – Polish expedition including Jerzy Kukuczka climbs the normal route in winter, reaching the                 summit on January 21.

• 1986 – A mostly Polish expedition puts up a second south face route, on the left side of the face                     connecting with the southwest ridge route. They go above 7,500 m but do not reach the                       summit.

• 1988 – Y. Moiseev and K. Valiev, in cooperation with a Slovak, Z. Demjan, succeed in climbing                 the southwest buttress. This 3,000-metre ascent, with difficult technical climbing at 6,800–                 7,300 m, was acknowledged as the year’s best achievement at the UIAA Expedition                             Commission Conference.

• 1990 – Dhaulagiri becomes the first mountain higher than 8,000 m to be climbed by a Lithuanian.                  Dainius Makauskas disappears on the descent.

• 1993 – Russian-British team puts up the direct north face route.

• 1998 – French climber Chantal Mauduit and Sherpa Ang Tshering die when an avalanche strikes                  their tent on the Northeast Ridge. On May 1 the Greek climber Nikolaos Papandreou is killed              falling in a gorge. On October 2, the Greek Babis Tsoupras reaches the summit but does not                return. The bodies of the Greek climbers were not found.

• 1999 – On October 24, British climber Ginette Harrison dies in an avalanche on Dhaulagiri. Days                 later, Slovenian Tomaz Humar climbs the south face solo but does not reach the summit. His               ascent ended at 7,300 m due to a 300 m band of rotten rock. Humar traverses to the dangerous             southeast ridge, re-enters the face briefly and exits c. 8000 m for a descent on.