Nuptse
Nuptse | |
---|---|
![]() Nuptse from Lobuche | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 7,861 m (25,791 ft) |
Prominence | 319 m (1,047 ft) |
Listing | List of mountains in Nepal |
Coordinates | 27°57′59″N 86°53′24″E / 27.96639°N 86.89000°E |
Naming | |
Native name | ནུབ་རྩེ། नुबचे Error {{native name checker}}: parameter value is malformed (help) |
English translation | West Peak |
Geography | |
Location | Khumbu, Nepal |
Parent range | Mahalangur Himal |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1961 by a British team led by Joe Walmsley |
Easiest route | snow/ice climb |
Nuptse or Nubtse (Sherpa: ནུབ་རྩེ། नुबचे, Wylie: Nub rtse) is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, in the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest. Nubtse is Tibetan for "west peak", as it is the western segment of the Lhotse-Nubtse massif.
The summit of Nuptse is extremely dangerous due to loose snow with many hollows, and there are also weakly attached cornices of snow. This provides a barrier to climbing, yet is not sturdy enough for safe climbing.[1]
The long east-west trending main ridge of Nubtse is crowned by seven peaks:
Peak | metres | feet | Latitude (N) | Longitude (E) | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nubtse I | 7,861 | 25,791 | 27°57′59″ | 86°53′24″ | The highest |
Nubtse II | 7,827 | 25,679 | 27°57′52″ | 86°53′34″ | |
Nubtse Shar I | 7,804 | 25,604 | 27°57′41″ | 86°53′47″ | |
Nubtse Nup I | 7,784 | 25,538 | 27°58′05″ | 86°53′08″ | |
Nubtse Shar II | 7,776 | 25,512 | 27°57′39″ | 86°53′55″ | |
Nubtse Nup II | 7,742 | 25,400 | 27°58′06″ | 86°52′54″ | |
Nubtse Shar III | 7,695 | 25,246 | 27°57′30″ | 86°54′42″ |
The main peak, Nubtse I, was first climbed on May 16, 1961 by Dennis Davis and Sherpa Tashi and the following day by Chris Bonington, Les Brown, James Swallow and Pemba Sherpa, members of a British expedition led by Joe Walmsley.[2][3] This route they took is called the Scott route for the Nuptse mountain. After this it was climbed just twice between 1961 and 1996.[4]
A joint British/Nepalese Army team attempted the Scott Route in 1975 but sadly the summit team fell from the final couloir, probably having been knocked off by a stone fall or snow slide.[5][6]
After a long hiatus, Nubtse again became the objective of high-standard mountaineers in the 1990s and 2000s, with important routes being put up on its west, south, and north faces.
While Nubtse is a dramatic peak when viewed from the south or west, and it towers above the base camp for the standard south col route on Everest, it is not a particularly independent peak: its topographic prominence is only 319 m (1,047 ft). Hence it is not ranked on the list of highest mountains.
In 2013 Briton Kenton Cool summited Nuptse as part of the"Triple Crown" or "Everest Trilogy" climb, which he achieved that year.[1] He summited Nuptse, Everest, and Lhotse in one season, supported by various climbers and using various climbing techniques.[1] During this climb Mr. Cool tried to save the life a climber that had come down with HACE after summiting Lhotse, but was not reachable for helicopter rescue.[7]
On April 30, 2017, famed Swiss mountaineer and speed-climber Ueli Steck died in an accident near Camp 1 off the Western Cwm, whilst on an acclimatisation climb on the north face of the Nuptse Wall.
Views
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Nuptse-fromChukhungRi.jpg/220px-Nuptse-fromChukhungRi.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Mount_Everest_morning.jpg/220px-Mount_Everest_morning.jpg)
References
- ^ a b c Arnette, Alan (2013-05-29). "The Full Story of Kenton Cool and the Triple Crown". Outside Online. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- ^ Walmsley, Joe (1961). "Nuptse" (PDF). Alpine Journal. Alpine Club: 209–234. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ Bonington, Chris (1962). "Nuptse" (PDF). Journal. XIII (3). The Climber's Club: 306–312. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ "Nuptse Overview - Peakware.com". peakware.com. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- ^ Nuptse 1975 Alpine Journal http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1976_files/AJ%201976%20107-116%20Fleming%20Nuptse.pdf
- ^ The Army Board of Inquiry Report into the deaths with photographs is available from the National Archives https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=nuptse+expedition (retrieved 8/01/2020)
- ^ Arnette, Alan (2013-05-29). "The Full Story of Kenton Cool and the Triple Crown". Outside Online. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
External links
- Nuptse on Summitpost
- Peak climbing in Nepal
- Günther Seifferth, Nuptse at himalaya-info.org.
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