Masayuki Takenaka, 36, Tatsuro Sugimoto, 37, and Ryota Nomura, 31, have just arrived in Nepal to climb Jarkya Himal, an unclimbed 6,000’er near Manaslu.
The three Japanese are young but highly experienced, both on Japan’s mountains, where they all work as professional mountain guides, and in the Himalaya.
“This will be my third attempt, and the others’ second,” said team leader Takenaka.
Jarkya Himal. Photo: Japan Alpine Club
Earlier attempts
As often happens, Takenaka first noticed Jarkya Himal from the summit of another peak that he summited in 2016: the previously unclimbed Nanga Mali II (6,209m). He first attempted Jarkya Himal in 2020, with three other members of the Kansai branch of the Japan Alpine Club (JAC), but the team turned around at 5,400m.
“Then, in 2023, a team including Sugimoto and Nomura made another attempt, reaching 6,300m, but were unable to reach the summit,” said a JAC press release.
Left to right, Ryota Nomura and Masayuki Takenaka on their way to Nepal. Photo: Japan Alpine Club
The team tried to climb Jarkya Himal (6,473m) in 2023, and three years later, the JAC has given the team about $1,250 in support of the expedition.
Meanwhile, Ryota Nomura completed a 63-day solo ski traverse of the Hokkaido watershed, an achievement that earned him the 27th Naomi Uemura Adventure Award.
Commemorating the first ascent
Jarkya Himal is one of the 104 peaks that the Nepalese government opened up for climbing in 2014. It lies north of Manaslu on the Tibetan border. Since Japanese climbers made the first ascent exactly 70 years ago, bagging another first ascent within view of Manaslu would be a nice way to commemorate the anniversary.
Location of Jarkya Himal, north of Manaslu on the Tibetan border. Photo: Japan Alpine Club
“Thanks to our past experiences and accumulated knowledge, we are ready to take on this challenge again this spring,” Takenaka said.
Takenaka and Nomura arrived in Nepal yesterday and have already obtained their climbing permit. Next, they fly to Gosainkund for the acclimatisation phase. There, they will meet the team member, Tatsuro Sugimoto.
Masayuki Takenaka with a climbing permit for Jarkya Himal. Photo: Masayuki Takenaka/Instagram
