When Stefano Ragazzo and Silvia Loreggian first discovered the peak they would name Sato Pyramide, they couldn’t help but focus on its shape.
In photos snapped from its east flank, the mountain appeared to describe a perfect pyramid. The duo promptly organized a plan to ascend the unclimbed Nepal peak. It lies in a 6,000m range in the remote Kangchenjunga area, between Tibet and India.
As soon as they walked up to the mountain, they found what they didn’t expect: two summits.
It turned out that one of the formation’s two peaks hid behind the other in the photos. On October 31, the two climbers became the first-known humans to stand on one of them — Sato Pyramide, 6,100m — after a 600m ridge climb. “Kalypso” required a full day of climbing up to M4 from Ragazzo and Loreggian.
Change of plans
The team’s Instagram trip report makes it clear “Kalypso” was not their original objective.
“Our main project was to climb the north face straight to the summit, but the snow conditions forced us to change our plans…After some attempts, we chose the Southeast Ridge because it looks more rocky and so more ‘safe,’” Regazzo wrote.
Based on the report, the climb itself proceeded without incident.
Reaching the top, Ragazzo noted that the nearby “main summit of Sato Peak is just 100m higher”.
The team downclimbed and rappelled to their advanced base camp the same day. They then walked out to base camp after a night’s rest.
Though they didn’t tag the higher peak, Ragazzo acknowledged, the team considered the trip a success in terms of progression.
“The main peak is still unclimbed but we are super happy about what we achieved,” Ragazzo wrote. “It has been a real exploratory expedition…and we returned at home with just many new projects in our mind!”
