Baruntse
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Baruntse is a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
in the
Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Koshi Pradesh.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ...
region of eastern
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, crowned by four peaks and bounded on the south by the Hunku Glacier, on the east by the Barun Glacier, and on the northwest by the Imja Glacier. It is considered as one of the best preparation peaks in the Himalayas for climbers readying themselves for
eight-thousanders The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains recognized by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as being more than in height above sea level, and sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no precise defi ...
, however the mountain has a low success rate due to its technical difficulties, steep slopes and unpredictable weather conditions. It is open for beginners, but requires the use of fixed ropes to climb. The mountain is usually accessed from the South, where climbers can ascend Mera Peak to acclimatize before moving up the valley to the Baruntse base camp. From the village of Lukla, it is an eight-day hike to the base camp.


First ascents

The mountain was first climbed May 30, 1954 via the south ridge by Colin Todd and Geoff Harrow of a
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
expedition led by Sir
Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the Timeline of M ...
. The first ascent of the East Ridge was made on April 27, 1980 by Lorenzo Ortas, Javier Escartín, Jeronimo Lopez (all Spain) and Carlos Buhler (America) of a Spanish expedition led by Juan José Díaz Ibañez. In 1994, the first ascent of the North West face of Baruntse North by Vladimir Leitermann, Martin Otta and Tomas Pekarek was nominated for a
Piolets d'Or The Piolets d'Or (, "Golden Ice Axe") is an annual mountaineering and alpine climbing award organized by the (GHM), and previously with co-founder ''Montagnes Magazine'', since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual w ...
. The first ascent of the west face was made in 1995 by a Russian team consisting of climbers Valeri Pershin (climbing leader), Evgeni Vinogradski, Salavat Habibulin, Nikolai Zhilin, and Yuri Ermachek. The ascent was made in seven days and the summit was made on October 12. In 2004, the first ascent of Ciao Patrick (V+/VI M6+ 90°) on the northwest face and northwest ridge of Baruntse North (7,057m) was made by
Simone Moro Simone Moro (born 27 October 1967 in Bergamo) is an Italian mountaineer known for having made first winter ascents of four of the fourteen eight-thousanders: Shishapangma in 2005, Makalu in 2009, Gasherbrum II in 2011, and Nanga Parbat in 2016. No ...
, Bruno Tassi and Denis Urubko. The alpine-style ascent was identified as one of the most notable ascents of the year. In 2010, Becky Bellworthy from the United Kingdom became the youngest woman to summit Baruntse at 18 years old.


Notable climbs and incidents

In 1998, prominent American alpinist and ski racer Raoul Wille died of
altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...
while climbing Baruntse. Nineteen-times Everest summiteer Chhewang Nima died in 2010 on Baruntse after falling through a cornice while fixing a rope beneath the summit. In 2013, Petr Machold and Jakub Vaněk from the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
were lost after attempting to climb up the mountain's west side, which had only been done once previously. They made it to 6,600m. Heavy snow caught them in camp, and when a rescue operation was mounted, the climbers could not be found. In 2018, Mera, a stray
Tibetan mastiff The Tibetan Mastiff is a large Tibetan dog breeds, Tibetan dog breed. Its double coat is medium to long, subject to climate, and found in a wide variety of colors, including solid black, black and tan, various shades of red (from pale gold to deep ...
- Himalayan sheepdog cross climbed Baruntse after following a trekking expedition up the mountain. Team leader Don Wargowsky shared his tent and a sleeping mat with the dog, who is thought to be the first canine to ascend a 7,000m peak. In 2021, Czech climbers Marek Holeček and Radek “Ráďa” Groh attempted the North-West face climb that had caught Machold and Vaněk eight years earlier. The perilous climb, which they later named "Heavenly Trap", lasted ten days due to increasingly worsening weather conditions. After summitting, the descent took nearly 80 hours. The climbers graded the route VI+ M6+ 80°.


References

Mountains of Koshi Province Seven-thousanders of the Himalayas Solukhumbu District {{Nepal-mountain-stub