Kangbachen is a subsidiary peak of

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

in the

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 ...

ese part of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. The Kangchenjunga massif's local name translates to "Five treasures of the high snow" in reference to its five peaks, one being Kangbachen. Kangbachen lies on the west ridge of the Kangchenjunga range, in Nepal. It is the smallest of Kangchenjunga's five peaks and the only one less than eight thousand meters (7,903 m). It is also the only one of Kangchenjunga's peaks entirely in Nepal. Kangbachen has rarely been climbed compared to other mountains on the range. It has only had ten recorded expeditions since 1930, and only two successful summits, according to the ''Himalayan Database''. It was first summitted on May 26, 1974, via the southwest ridge by a Polish expedition team, composed of

Kazimierz Olech Kazimierz "Waldek" Waldemar Olech (6 August 1928 – 12 January 2016) was a Polish Mountaineering, mountaineer, Alpine climbing, alpinist, Himalayan climber, caver, climbing instructor, and mountain photographer. Biography Kazimierz Olech was ...

, Wiesław Kłaput, Marek Malatyński, Zbigniew Rubinowski and Wojciech Brański. The second successful summit, by a Yugoslavian team, took place just over four months later, on September 29, 1974. As of 2024, the East, and South faces of Kangbachen are unclimbed.

Climbing History

1930 —

Günter Dyhrenfurth Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth (12 November 1886 – 14 April 1975) was a German-born, German and Swiss mountaineer, geologist and Himalayan explorer. He won a gold medal in alpinism at the 1936 Summer Olympics, the third and final time the award was o ...

/ Smythe rope team attempted to reach the summit, but turned back at 6400m 1949 — Alfred Sutter Swiss Expedition hits high point of 5490m, no summit attempt 1965 — Yugoslavian expedition by Mountaineering Club

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

abandoned at 7600m due to frostbite 1973 — Japanese Himalayan Expedition of Rikkio University made four attempts at the summit, but heavy snow impeded their ascents each time. Highest point reached was 6550m 1974 — Successful summit by Polish team led by Kazimierz Olech and Polski Club Gorski 1974 — Yugoslavian expedition from Slovene Alpine Club, Ljubljana, led by Tone Škarja makes second successful summit 1984 — Solo attempt by Italy's Dante Porta, abandoned at 6000m due to altitude sickness 2007 — Slovenian Kangbachen Expedition, led by Tone Škarja, had to abandon attempt due to avalanche risk 2019 — Romano Benet and Nives Meroi Kangbachen Expedition, abandoned at 6300 due to large crevasse

References

{{Eight-thousander Himalayas Seven-thousanders of the Himalayas