Every spring, while hundreds of climbers target the 8,000’ers, a handful of alpinists focus on lonelier, lesser peaks, with appealing lines or unclimbed faces. This year, Takeshi Tani and Toshiyuki Yamada of Japan are aiming for the first ascent of the North Face of Kangchung Nup.
First ascent to Edmund Hillary
Kangchung Nup (6,090m), also known as Cholo Peak, Abi, or Kangchung West, lies in the Khumbu east of the Gokyo Glacier and lakes. It is not far from Cho Oyu’s South Face, recently attempted by two Nepali teams.
Kangchung Nup, orange triangle. Map: CamptoCamp.org
None other than Edmund Hillary and other members of the 1953 Everest expedition first climbed Kangchung Nup via its SE Face for acclimatization before Everest. One year later, Charles Evans repeated the ascent with three Sherpas. He also bagged the first summit of Kangchung Nup’s twin peak, Kangchung Shar (6,083m).
There is, however, no record of any successful route from the north. A Czech expedition in 2014 reached as far as 5,900m but had to retreat because of dangerous conditions on the face, according to the American Alpine Journal.
Takeshi and Yamada arrived in Kathmandu today. Photo: Toshiyuki Yamada
