NEPAL, Manslu region (District Gurcha)
Himalchuli (7893 m), NE face
Route classification:
heights difference: 4660 m,
extension: base camp - summit – 20200 m
                 ABC (Lidanda pass 5100 m) summit – 15 000 m
average steepness of the main part of the route (the North wall couloir):
     Camp 6 (in the bergshrund 7250 m) – Camp 7 (on the ridge 7700 m) – 65 degrees
     Camp 7 (on the ridge 7700 m) – summit – 40 degrees.

Team trainers:

Himalchuli

Himalchuli is the second highest mountain in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalaya. It lies south of Manaslu, one of the Eight thousanders. Himalchuli has three peaks: the Main East (7893 m), West (7540 m) and North (7371 m). It is also often written as two words, "Himal Chuli".

Himal Chuli is the 18th highest mountain in the world and is also notable for its large vertical relief over local terrain. It rises 7000m over the Marsyangdi River to the southwest in about 27km horizontal distance.

Himal Chuli means “sharp snow peak” in Nepali. True to its name, it presents a varied topography, with gradual glacier-covered slopes interspersed with sharp rocky peaks. As seen in Photo 1, there is a gently sloping saddle between the Main Peak and West Peak this saddle was the route of the first ascent.

Photo 1. Himal Chuli and the Manaslu range from the South-Southeast 1 – Manaslu, 8163m 2 – Peak 29 (Ngadi Chuli), 7871m 3 – Himal Chuli North Peak, 7371m 4 – Himal Chuli West Peak, 7540m 5 – Himal Chuli, 7893m

Short climbing History

Exploratory visits to the peak were made in 1950 and 1954, and the first attempt in 1955 failed. The next attempt in 1957, by the Anglo-Kenyan expedition led by Arthur Firmin, along the north slope was abandoned, due to an accident sustained by Firmin himself, who died during the journey to Pokhara. This was followed by a massive assault made in 1959 (after an exploration in 1958) on the north-east side by a Japanese expedition, led by J.Muraki. This attempt was as unlucky as the other because of a Sherpa’s death at Camp II it was made along the north-east slope, consisting of a fantastically steep 1000 metre ice wall.

The first ascent was made in 1960, by Hisashi Tanabe and Masahiro Harada (Keio University team led by Jiro Yamada), of Japan. The route followed the "Sickle Ridge" from the southwest. They were the first to climb to the above mentioned saddle between the West and Main peaks, where they placed the last of six camps. This ascent was somewhat unusual for a sub-8000m peak in using bottled oxygen.

From 1960 on, no other expedition (except for a small Dutch group who climbed Rani Peak over Camp III of the 1959 expedition, in 1971) attacked this mountain, until Italian (led by Annibale Bonicelli) pre-monsoon attempt of 1974 by Japanese route, which was stopped by Mario Dotti slipping.

An expedition in 1978, led by John Cleare, should be mentioned also. They reached the height of 6390m on NE Ridge.

The second ascent to Himal Chuli peak, in 1978 was performed, by two members of another Japanese team. They made the first ascent to this peak along the Southwest Face from the Dordi Khola. They were also the first to climb the West Peak from the east.

The North Peak was first climbed in 1985 by a Korean expedition, via the North Face.

The Chronicle of ascents to the Himal Chuli Main peak (7893 m) according to Himalayan Index

The Himalayan Index lists only six ascents of the Main peak (7893 m), and 14 unsuccessful attempts (see the table). The ascents were made on the south, or southwest slopes of the mountain.

As evident from the given table, not a single attempt of ascent from the north-east side was successful. More than that, during the recent 20 years nobody has tried to go along the route including the twenty-kilometer ridge and the steep north-east wall of Himal Chuli with the total altitude exceeding 4000 m, to say nothing of doing it without high-altitude sherps and oxygen.

Fig 1. General photo of the peak

Fig 2. Photopanorama

Fig 3. Schematic map of the ascent district

Scheme of Himalchuli summit ascent route in UIAA symbols (sheet 1)

Scheme of Himalchuli summit ascent route in UIAA symbols (sheet 2)