The Geneva Spur, named Eperon des Genevois and has also been called the Saddle Rib
[ "Chapter Two ..Saddle Rib"] is a geological feature on
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...
it is a large rock buttress near the summits of Everest and
Lhotse.
[ The Geneva spur is above Camp III and the Yellow Band, but before Camp IV and ]South Col
The South Col is a sharp-edged col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the highest and fourth-highest mountains in the world, respectively. The South Col is typically swept by high winds, leaving it free of significant snow accumulation. Since 1950 ...
.spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
near the south col. A related formation is the saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...
between the peaks of Mount Everest and Lhotse.
The altitude of the spur is between .[
The Geneva Spur name comes from the 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition.][ The spur provides a route to the South Col, and is usually traversed by climbers heading for Lhotse or Everest summits.][
From the top of Geneva Spur, South Col can be seen, and when looking at it Mount Everest is on the left and Lhotse to the right.][ Lhotse climbers typically head southeast from Geneva Spur, and on to a ]couloir
A ''couloir'' (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. .
Geology
A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissu ...
to ascend that summit.[
]
History
On the 1956 Swiss Everest–Lhotse Expedition, the spur was the location of the last high camp before Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss achieved the first known ascent of Lhotse summit, on 18 May 1956.[''Aargauer Zeitung'', 25 April 2006]
Location on climbing routes to peaks of Everest and Lhotse
The Geneva spur is above the Yellow Band; on the Southeast Ridge climbing route, the Geneva Spur lies above Camp III, but lower than Camp IV (as of 2003) and South Col
The South Col is a sharp-edged col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the highest and fourth-highest mountains in the world, respectively. The South Col is typically swept by high winds, leaving it free of significant snow accumulation. Since 1950 ...
.
/ref>[
]
Additional descriptions
The Geneva Spur, n the 1955 translated edition of a 1952 book"is now called the Saddle Rib. It is flanked on either side by two steep couloir
A ''couloir'' (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. .
Geology
A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissu ...
s, which after fresh falls of snow become dangerously exposed to avalanches, but after dry spells
turn to grooves of bare ice".[ "Chapter Two ..Saddle Rib ..]
References
External links
Geneva Spurparent gallery
Lhotse from Geneva SpurClimbers above the spur
{{Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mountain spurs