Kamet ( hi, कामेत) is the second highest

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 Garhwal region of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, after

Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal). It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. Nanda Devi was consi ...

. It lies in the Chamoli District of

. Its appearance resembles a giant pyramid topped by a flat summit area with two peaks.

Climbing

Due to its position near the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the T ...

, Kamet is very remote and not as accessible as some Himalayan peaks. It also receives a great deal of wind from the Plateau. However, by modern standards, it is a relatively straightforward ascent for such a high mountain. Early explorers of the region faced long approach marches of around from Ranikhet through dense mountain forest; access is easier today. While attempts to climb Kamet began in 1855, the first ascent was not made until 1931 by Frank Smythe, Eric Shipton,

R.L. Holdsworth Romilly Lisle Holdsworth, commonly known as R. L. Holdsworth, (25 February 1899 – 20 June 1976) was an English scholar, academic, educationalist, cricketer and a distinguished Himalayan mountaineer. He was a member of the first expedition ...

, Dr Raymond Greene, the expedition's doctor, Bill Birnie and Lewa Sherpa, members of a British expedition. Kamet was the first summit over to be climbed, and was the highest summit reached until the first ascent of

five years later. (However, far higher non-summit altitudes had been reached on the north side of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

in the 1920s.) The standard route begins from the East Kamet (or Purbi Kamet) Glacier, ascending via Meade's Col (c. 7,100m/23,300 ft), the saddle between Kamet and its northern outlier

Abi Gamin Abi Gamin (also known as Ibi Gamin) is a Himalayan mountain peak mostly situated in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India, northeast of Kamet. Its summit is on the border with Tibet and its northern slope is in the Ngari Prefec ...

. From Meade's Col the route ascends the northeast edge of the north face. The ascent to Meade's col involves steep gullies, a rock wall, and several glacier climbs. Five camps are usually placed en route. The final ascent to the summit involves steep snow, possibly icy.

Neighboring and subsidiary peaks

Kamet is surrounded by three principal neighboring or subsidiary peaks: * Mukut Parbat, 7,242 m (23,760 ft) Ranked 97th,

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

= 840 m, , northwest of Kamet. First ascent 1951 (see below). The lower of Mukut Parbat's twin summit has an elevation of 7,130 m (23,392 ft). *

, 7,355 m (24,130 ft),

= 217 m , north-northeast of Kamet; connected to Kamet by Meade's Col. First ascent 1950. * Mana Peak, 7,272 m (23,858 ft) Ranked 92nd,

= 720 m, , south-southeast of Kamet. First ascent 1937. Several adjoining peaks, such as Mana NW, 7,092 m, Point 6,977 m, Deoban, 6,855 m, and Bidhan Parbat, 6,519 m, also lie close to Kamet. Joydeep Sircar, ''Himalayan handbook'', Calcutta 1979

Nomenclature

There are varying explanations of the name "Kamet." C. F. Meade gives the pronunciation as , and claims that it is known to Tibetans as ''Kangmen'', signifying "huge grandmother of a sacred snow chain". However, Frank Smythe writes in his book ''Kamet Conquered'' that the genesis of the name is from the Tibetan word ''Kangmed'' ("the lower snows", from ''kang'', "snow", and ''med'', "little"), as distinct from the "higher snows" of the Kailash range, 110 miles east of Kamet. (This range is slightly lower than Kamet, its highest peak being Gurla Mandhata, 7,728 m/25,355 ft; however it stands more fully on the high

). At dawn and dusk, "the copper colored rock of Mount Kamet reflecting the oblique rays of the sun on its hanging glaciers appears to set these glaciers aglow with crackling flames and bathes the mountain in a red burning glow". Hence the term "glacier fire" is also used as an allusion to the name Kamet.

Partial timeline

* 1848: Richard Strachey determines the height and location of Kamet, as well as the neighboring peaks Abi Gamin, Mukut Parbat, and Mana. * 1855: German explorers and scientists Adolphe and Robert Schlagintweit, invited by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

to make surveys, travel into Tibet in disguise. After being discovered and arrested, they return, and attempt Abi Gamin from Tibet (via the Abi Gamin Glacier), believing it to be Kamet. (This mistake hampers expeditions until 1912.) They claim to reach a height of 6,785 m (22,260 ft), which is extraordinary for this date. * 1877: I. S. Pocock of the

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Tom Longstaff, Brig. Charles Bruce and A. L. Mumm, with alpine guides Alexis and Henri Brocherel, make a preliminary reconnaissance of the eastern and western sides of Kamet. The highest point reached is 6,100 m (20,000 ft) above the East Kamet Glacier. Longstaff deems the East Kamet route as too dangerous due to avalanche risk. * 1910–1911: C. F. Meade, with Alpine guides Alexis Brocherel and Pierre Blanc, and a separate expedition under Dr. A. M. Kellas, make a preliminary reconnaissance of the western side of the peak; they explore Khaiam Pass and Glacier. * 1911: Capt. A. M. Slingsby attempt Kamet on the western side from Ghastoli Glacier (or West Kamet Glacier) via the col on the ridge between Abi Gamin and Mukut Parbat (subsequently named as Slingsby's Col, 6,400 m/21,000 ft). * 1912: Meade, with Alpine guides Franz Lochmatter of

St. Niklaus :''See Saint Nicholas (disambiguation) for disambiguation.'' St. Niklaus (french: Saint-Nicolas) is a village and a municipality in the Mattertal, part of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History St. Niklaus is first ...

in the canton Valais, Pierre Blanc, Justin Blanc and Jean Perrin, attempts Kamet by Slingsby's route, and also later explores the Raikhana glacier system to the east of Kamet. Meade concludes that the East Kamet Glacier is the only practicable route to Mt Kamet's summit. * 1913: Slingsby attempts the same route as in 1911 and reaches 7,000 m (23,000 ft). (He later dies in battle in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

in 1916.) * 1913: Meade, with Alpine guide Pierre Blanc, attempts Kamet from the eastern side and reaches Meade's Col, 7,138 m. (23,420 ft). * 1914: Kellas makes another reconnaissance of which no records are available, and which is probably abandoned midway due to the commencement of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. * 1920: Kellas and Col. H. T. Morshead attempt Meade's 1913 route and reach a point slightly above Meade's Col. * 1931: The first ascent of Kamet, detailed above. * 1937: Frank Smythe returns to the Bhyundar Valley and makes the solo first ascent of Mana on 12 August, through its south ridge from the plateau at the head of the Uttari Naktoni glacier. His companion P.R.Oliver stopped exhausted at 23000'. * 1950: An Anglo-

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

expedition ascends Abi Gamin from its North East ridge. * 1951: Mukut Parbat is climbed via the steep northwest ridge by a crack New Zealand team that included Earle Riddiford (leader),

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...

, George Lowe,

Edmund Cotter Edmund McCarthny (Ed) Cotter (15 January 1927 – 19 October 2017) was a New Zealand mountaineer who made several first ascents on the West Coast of New Zealand and was part of the team that first climbed the Maximilian Ridge on Mount Elie de Bea ...

and Pasang Dawa Lama. Summitters were Riddiford, Cotter and Pasang Dawa Lama. * 1955: An Indian expedition from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling makes the second ascent of Kamet on 6 July. Major Narendra D. Jayal led the party; Jayal, Ang Tharkay, Da Namgyal, Ang Temba, and Hlakpa Dorje comprised the summit team. Their route followed the ridge linking Abi Gamin and Kamet.''

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World' ...

'', 1956, p. 142. * 1966: Mana is climbed on 19 September by a new route, the NW ridge from Purbi Kamet glacier which had rebuffed Smythe in 1937, by Pranesh Chakraborty, Pasang Phutar, Tshering Lhakpa, Pasang Tshering from Camp 5(c.22500'). * 1986 Kamet was scaled by Mountaineering Club from Mumbai – Girivihar on 11 June 1986. Leader – Shrikant Oka, Summiters – Anil Kumar and Sanjay Borole, * 1995: Mana Northwest is scaled by members of a joint

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indi ...

– Japanese expedition after a tough technical wall climb. * 2000: To mark the turn of century, Ruptaps Mountaineering Club from Asansol, West Bengal climbed Kamet on 3 October 2000. The summiters were Leader Gautam Mukherjee and Jasjeet Singh. * 2006: A commemorative 75th anniversary expedition by the Kolkata Section of the

Himalayan Club The Himalayan Club is an organization founded in India in 1928 along the lines of the Alpine Club. The stated mission of the organization was "to encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and a ...

puts ten climbers on the summit of Kamet. (First ascensionist Frank Smythe was a Himalayan Club member.) * 2008: The southeast face(6,000 ft) was climbed for the first time by two Japanese climbers,

Kazuya Hiraide from Fujimi, Nagano Prefecture, is a Japanese ski mountaineer, Alpine climber, and professional mountain cameraman. Hiraide has won the Piolet d'Or mountaineering award on three occasions. Climbing career Hiraide became a serious mountain clim ...

and Kei Taniguchi. * 2010: An avalanche kills Lt Col C. Poornachandra and Maj Manish Gusain. They were a part of a 41-member Indian army team led by Col Ajay Kothiyal. None of the 41-members summitted the peak due to lack of technical skills. * 2010: A 6-member team led by Herbert Wolf followed the traditional route to the summit via the Purbi Kamet glacier and the Meade's col. Four high camps were established and the attempt took place from the summit camp at an altitude of 7080 m. On 28 September 2010, the leader with Oliver Amann, Nicolas Touboul, Bernd Mayer and Roland Brand reached the summit. Erich Eisele could not go above 5620 m due to health reasons. * 2012: The southwest face(2,000 m) was climbed for the first time by four French climbers, Sébastien Bohin, Didier Jourdan, Sébastien Moatti and Sébastien Ratel, following a route that they called Spicy Game.Kamet, Spicy Game, 2012 - Himalaya Masala
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Glaciers and rivers

The West (Pachmi or Paschimi) Kamet Glacier, the East (Purbi or Purva) Kamet Glacier and the Raikana Glacier systems surround Kamet. The branches of the West Kamet Glacier head on the western slopes of Kamet, Abi Gamin, and Mukut Parbat. The East Kamet Glacier flows from the eastern side of Kamet and Mana. The Raikhana glacier originates on the east side of Meade's Col saddle, flows east of Abi Gamin, and unites with the East Kamet Glacier. The West Kamet Glacier drains into the

Saraswati River The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, i ...

while the East Kamet Glacier feeds the

Dhauliganga River The Dhauliganga is a turbulent Himalayan river which rises in the border regions of India and China and flows south into the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. It joins the Alaknanda, the major source stream of the Ganges river. Cour ...

; both rivers are tributaries of the

Alaknanda River The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the source stream ...

, the major river of the Chamoli district.

High altitude research

A. M. Kellas and his companion H. T. Morshead conducted scientific studies during their 1920 Kamet expedition focusing on the physiology of high altitude travel and acclimatization, and on the possibility of using supplemental oxygen. These studies eventually proved useful on expeditions to Mount Everest.