Kangchenjunga climbing routes
South West or Yalung face of Kangchenjunga
Traditionally the summit of Kangchenjunga is left untrodden out of respect for the people of Sikkim who recognise it as a holy mountain. There are two main routes to the summit, one being the line of first ascent by George Band and Joe Brown on the South West face and secondly a number of variations on the north to north west face. Both of these routes are in Nepal. The huge lower icefall is avoided by climbing to the left of the West buttress and over a feature they named The Hump. Camp 1 is located on the Hump at 6,200m. From Camp 1 the route descends the Hump to the Plateau which is flat section of the glacier between the lower and upper icefalls. There are several places for Camp II between 6,800 and 7,200m on the upper icefall. Camp III is located at 7,700m on the large glacier between the upper icefall and the upper rock walls, this area is known as The Great Shelf. The standard route to the summit takes a couloir called the Gangway located to the right of a characteristic formation called the Sickle. The Gangway leads at an angle of 45 degrees to just below the West col between the Sickle and rock wall above the Great Shelf. Just below the col one traverses right on to a snowy field which streches slantwise up through the wall beneath the prominent rocky gendarme on the ridge from West Col to the summit. After passing the gendarme the route joins the ridge, there is a deviation to the south side before reaching the snow slopes leading to the summit.
The Mountain Company trek leaders Roland Hunter, Gary Pfisterer and Paul Walters attempted this route in 2003.
The climbing route from base camp at Pang Pema to Camp 1 at 5,500m is along the low angle non technical rock and ice. Continue along the non technical glacier to Camp II at 6,000m. The rock bank is the crux of the route, it starts as a snow gully followed by mixed rock to reach the upper snow field at 7,500m for Camp V. Camp VI is placed at 7,900m below the summit pyramid. The summit route follows a snow gully then mixed rock and ice that traverse to the West ridge. The summit is reached by scrambling on rock and snow along the ridge.
The Mountain Company trek leader Gary Pfisterer led a successful expedition to the north side of Kangchenjunga in 1998 when his wife Ginette Harrison became the only woman to summit (and return alive).
Kangchenjunga north and south base camps (Nepal) Recommended books & maps: |