Yalung Kang
Yalung Kang | |
---|---|
Yalungkar, Kangchenjunga West | |
![]() Yalung Kang (leftmost peak) from the south face of the Kangchenjunga massif | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 8,505 m (27,904 ft) |
Prominence | 135 m (443 ft) |
Parent peak | Kangchenjunga |
Isolation | 1.11 km (0.69 mi) |
Listing | List of mountains in Nepal |
Coordinates | 27.7052°N 88.1367°E |
Geography | |
Taplejung District,Koshi Province, Nepal | |
Parent range | Himalayas |
Climbing | |
First ascent | May 14,1973 by Yutaka Ageta and Takao Matsuda |
Yalung Kang(Yalungkaror alternativelyKanchenjunga West) is a8,505 mhigh minorsummitof theKangchenjungamassiffound in theHimalayan range.
The peak lies 1,11 km west of Kanchenjunga's main summit inTaplejung, Nepal.The mountain range continues west to the final subsidiary peak of the massif,Kangbachen.[1]
While Yalung Kang has long been recognized by geographers to be over 8,000 m, there has been hesitation to consider Yalung Kang the 15theight-thousander.[2]At 8,505 m high, Yalung Kang would be the fifth highest mountain on earth if it were an independent peak, only eleven meters shorter thanLhotse.
In 2014, Nepal officially recognized Yalung Kang as an independent peak and opened it for climbing.[3]
Despite Nepal's recognition, theInternational Climbing and Mountaineering Federation(UIAA) refuses to recognize Yalung Kang as an independent peak.[4]Its lack of recognition as an independent peak has led Yalung Kang to be scarcely climbed, when compared to Kangchenjunga's central summit.
As of 2024, there have been only 22 recorded expeditions to Yalung Kang, compared to 201 on Kanchenjunga, according to theHimalayan Database.[5]12 of these have had successful summits, and five expeditions have experienced a fatality (22%), making it the most dangerous of the Kangchenjunga peaks.
Climbing history
[edit]The first successful summit of Yalung Kang was by theKyoto UniversityYalung Khang Expedition in 1973.[6]Two members of the 16 member expedition team reached the summit via the Southwest ridge, Yutaka Ageta and Takao Matsuda. Matusda was lost on the descent, all that could be found was part of a broken ice ax.[5]
In 1980, Sergio Hugo Saldano Meneses from theUniversity of MexicoHimalayas Expedition made the first successful summit of Yalung Kang without bottled oxygen, climbing via the SE face. He, along with Alfonso Medina and Chowang Renzi Sherpa, were lost on the descent.[5]
In 1984,Laurence de la Ferrièremade the first successful female ascent of Yalung Kang.[7]
On April 22, 1985,Tomo Česenand Borut Bergant, members of a Slovenian climbing expedition claimed to have made the first successful summit of Yalung Kang via the North. The two climbed without supplemental oxygen, unfortunately Bergant was lost on the descent.[8]This ascent has been disputed.[9]
Yalung Kang was first successfully climbed in winter by the 1989-90 Korean Winter Yalung Kang Expedition. Climbing via the SE face, Kyo-Sup Jin, Ang Dawa Sherpa and Tchiring Thebe Sherpa all reached the summit on December 20, 1989, but were killed in the descent.[5]
In 2014,Chhanda Gayenand her two sherpa guides, Tembu Sherpa and Dawa Wengu Sherpa, died in an avalanche while attempting the summit of Yalung Kang. Gayen had become the first Indian woman to climb Kangchenjunga two days before.[10]
In 2024, 18-year-old Nima Rinji Sherpa became the youngest person ever to summit Mt. Kanchenjunga and also Yalung Kang.[11]
External links
[edit]- Yalung Kang Peak Profileon Nepal Himal, Nepalese Tourism Department
- "Yalung Kang".Peakbagger.
- Kanchendzöngadocumentary of the successful 1975 German-Austrian expedition to Kangchenjunga West
- Commons: Kangchenjunga West Summit– Collection of images, videos and audio files
References
[edit]- ^"Yalung Khang".nepalhimalpeakprofile.org.Retrieved2024-07-02.
- ^Benavides, Angela (2023-02-08)."Are There Really Six More 8,000'ers in Nepal? » Explorersweb".Explorersweb.Retrieved2024-07-02.
- ^Prasain, Sangam (February 6, 2023)."There are six more 8,000m peaks in Nepal, experts say".kathmandupost.Retrieved2024-07-03.
- ^"UIAA position on 8000m peaks - UIAA".2024-02-27.Retrieved2024-07-02.
- ^abcd"Himalayan Database Online".The Himalayan Database.Ann Arbor, Michigan.RetrievedJuly 2,2024.
- ^Higuchi, Haruo (1975)."The first ascent of Yalung Kang"(PDF).Alpine Journal.pp. 17–28.RetrievedJuly 2,2024.
- ^"AAC Publications - Asia, Nepal, Yalung Kang".publications.americanalpineclub.org.Retrieved2024-07-02.
- ^"Jalung Kang in Borut Bergant".Friko.si - slovenski plezalni portal(in Slovenian). 2020-04-23.Retrieved2024-07-14.
- ^Gogorza, Óscar (2021-04-09)."Mountaineering expert Rodolphe Popier: 'I think Ueli Steck lied'".EL PAÍS English.Retrieved2024-07-15.
- ^"Tres desaparecidos en una avalancha en el Kangchenjunga Oeste".Desnivel(in Spanish). 2014-05-23.Retrieved2024-07-02.
- ^Mission, Himalaya Treks."Yalung Kang".Yalung Kang.