Annapurna I

Annapurna I was the first eight-thousander to be conquered and lies 34km east of Dhaulagiri. The Annapurna

range stretches from 55km and is made up of a series of peaks. Between this massif and the Dhaulagiri range flows the great Kali Gandaki river which has carved what is believed to be the world's deepest gorge with an eight-thousander on either side. Translated from Sanskrit, Annapurna would mean "Full of grain" but is generally known as the "Goddess of harvests". This area has been well-protected under Annapurna Conservation Area Project  (ACAP), one of the most successful conservation projects. Four other peaks in this range share the name Annapurna: Annapurna II (7,937m), Annapurna III (7,555m), Annapurna IV (7,525m) and Annapurna South (7,219m).
As the French expedition led by Maurice Herzog in 1950 had come with the intension of climbing Dhaulagiri, it took them two weeks to locate Annapurna I after they chenged their plans.

Manaslu - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

 Manaslu lies 64km east of Annapurna, between Gorkha and Manang districts in northern Nepal. Of all the

fourteen eight-thousanders, twelve were first summited by climbers from the west while two were conquered by Asians. The fact that the peak was first climbed by a Japanese Expedition has made it one of the most popular mountains among Japanese mountaineers. It all began with a Japanese Manaslu Reconnaissance Expedition in 1952. This was followed by Japanese expeditions in 1953 and 1954 but the latter was unable to approach the mountain following opposition from the inhabitants of Samu village along the route.
The expeditions went up the river Budi Gandaki's course to reach the mountain.

Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu (meaning "Turquoise Goddess" in the Tibetan language) lies 20km west of Everest and forms the

boundary wall between Nepal and China. The first attempt on this mountain was made by an expedition led by the great Eric Shipton and included mountaineers who would one day become very famous: Edmund Hillary, George Lowe, Charles Evans and Tom Bourdilon. They only made it up to 6,650m before turning back.
It was the Austrians, Herbert Tichy and Joseph Jochler accompanied by Pasang Dawa Lama who made the first successful ascent on 19th October 1954, via the north-west ridge. This was the Golden Decade of mountaineering when most of the eight-thousanders were climbed.

Dhaulagiri - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

The Dhaulagiri also known as "The White Mountain" is quite easily recognized because of its unique, mound

shape when seen from treks that leave from Pokhara. Lying in the north-west of Pokhara, this peak first attracted the French expedition that came to Nepal in 1950. Led by Maurice Herzog, the mountaineers looked up at this formidable peak and decided it was impossible to climb and turned their attention to Annapurna I, which they subsequently climbed. It was the dicovery of Dhaulagiri's height in 1809 that brought to light the fact that the Himalayan range of mountains was higher than the Andes in South America. At the time, the Europeans assumed Dhaulagiri was the highest mountain in the world.

Lhotse - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

The Lhotse peak is often overlooked as its neighbor Everest steals all the lime light. Nevertheless, at 8,516m,

it is the fourth highest mountain in the world. The Lotse Middle (East) is 8,414m while Lhotse Shar is 8,383m. The famous mountaineer Norman Dyhrenfurth made an unsuccessful attempt on the mountain in 1955 accompanied by two Austrians. the following year a Swiss team comprising Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger made it to the summit on 18th May 1956. They were  part of the Swiss Mount Everest/Lhotse Expedition. On 12th May, two Austrians, Zepp Maier and Rolf Walter summited Lhotse Shar while Lhotse Middle remained unclimbed until forty-five years later, Russian climbers, Eugeny Vinogradsky, Segei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov finally conquered it.

Makalu

Like Everest and Lhotse, the fifth highest mountain, Makalu lies in the Khumbu region of North-eastern

Nepal. It has two subsidiary peaks: Kangchungtse or Makalu II (7,678m) is north-northwest of the main summit while Chomo Lonzo, the other peak, lies north of it. On 15th May 1955, Lionel Terry and Jean Couzy, members of a French expedition led by Jean Franco reached the summit of Makalu. The following day, Franco, G. Magnone and SherpaGyaltsen Norbu also summitted. The North face and the north-east ridge via which they climbed became the standard route for the clumbers who came after them.
Over the following years, mountaineers climbed over the south-east ridge, the West Pillar route.

Mt. Everest- Pride of the World

Mt. Everest was first climbed on 29th May 1953 by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of

Nepal. This British Expedition was led by John Hunt. The first expedition on Everest was led y Lt. Colonel Charles Howard-Bury in 1921. The early atttempts were make from the Tibetan side as Nepal was closed to outsiders until 1950. Since 1953, more than a thousand people have climbed Everest and among them Apa Sherpa has summitted twenty times. The most commonly used route up the mountain is the South-east Ridge.

Kanchenjunga - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Once mistakenly thought to be the highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga is in fact the third largest and

has five prominent peaks which it is named after. Kanchenjunga in Sikkimese means "Five treasures of the Great Snows". Located in far Eastern Nepal, the other side of the mountain lies in Sikkim, India. The five peaks are Kanchenjunga main (8,586), Yalund Kand (8,505), Kanchenjunga west (8,420m) and the Twin Peaks (both 8,476). The mountain lies 128Km east of Everest.
Although plans were afoot to climb Kanchenjunga as early as 1882, it was only in 1905 that the first attempt wa made. Alister Crowley was the first to make his way up the Yalung galcier. A British expedition led by Charlie Evans finally succedded in

Himalayan Peaks of Nepal - Nepal Tourism Year 2011

Nepal has the largest share of the highest peaks in the world. Of the fourteen peaks over 8,000m known as 

the eight-thousanders, eight of them lie in the Nepal Himalaya. These include the highest mountain in the world, Mt. everest (8,848m) and the third highest, Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586m). Attempts were made on Mt. Everest since the 1920s, but it was only in 1953 that the peak was successfully climed. The 1950s became known as the Golden Decade of climbing as most of the eight-thousanders were conquered within the ten years. Annapurna (8,091m) was  the first among them to be climbed, in 1950. The other eight-thousanders are Lhotse (8,516), Makalu (8,463m), Cho Oyu (8,210m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m) and Manaslu (8,163m).

Mountaineering in Nepal

Outdoors in Nepal

The possible outdoors in Nepal.

Paradise Pokhara

Paradise-Pokhara, situated in central Nepal, is nestled in a region of awesome natural beauty. The valley is filled with lush vegetation, swift flowing rivers and dotted with clear, shimmering lakes. It is one of teh major towns of Nepal, provideing a perfect gareway from the chaotic life in the cities. Pokhara is blessed with the backdrop of one of the most dramatic sceneries in the world. A 140Km of panoroma made up of towering Himalayan ranges seen close enough to be touched on a cloar day. If kathmandu is the cultural hub of Nepal, then Pokhara is the centre of adventure.