Hkakabo Razi

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Hkakabo Razi
Satellite image of the region, the Hkakabo Razi is located in the center left on the ridge parallel to the width east of the large ice field

Satellite image of the region, the Hkakabo Razi is located in the center left on the ridge parallel to the width east of the large ice field

height 5881  m
location Kachin State (Northern Myanmar ); Tibet ( China )
Mountains Eastern Himalayas
Coordinates 28 ° 18 '23 "  N , 97 ° 28' 6"  E Coordinates: 28 ° 18 '23 "  N , 97 ° 28' 6"  E
Hkakabo Razi (Myanmar)
Hkakabo Razi
First ascent 1996 by Takashi Ozeki and Nyama Gyaltsen
particularities highest mountain in SE Asia

The Hkakabo Razi ( Burmese : ခါကာဘိုရာဇီ ) is the highest (or second highest) mountain in Southeast Asia and is located near the border of the Myanmar Kachin state with China . It has a presumed height of 5881 meters. The attempt of an American team to determine the exact altitude with differential GPS in 2014 was canceled after some team members had already advanced to 5743 m on the west ridge leading to the summit. According to their estimates, the last measurement was made at least 170–240 m below the summit. From this, however, it could not be clarified whether the somewhat more distant Gamlang Razi , whose most recent measurement during its first ascent on September 7, 2013, showed a height of 5,870 meters (± 2 m) or whether the Hkakabo Razi is the highest peak in Southeast Asia and Burma. Nevertheless, the Hkakakbo Razi is the most difficult peak in the country and, according to the only climber to date, Takashi Ozaki , who stood on the peak, "one of the most difficult and dangerous mountains in the world". The Hkakabo Razi is the most impressive karling in the upper Irrawaddy catchment area . He is named for the Hkakabo Razi National Park . In the completely untouched tropical rainforests, 441 bird species have been identified here. The region was closed to foreigners until 1993. The first visits by foreigners have followed since 1997. In three expeditions in 2014 (Burmese, Japanese, American) none could reach the summit. All participants in the Burmese expedition remained missing. Hkakabo Razi is a symbol of Burma, a doubt about the status as the highest mountain in the country is perceived by the locals as an exposure of national pride.

Location and relief

The Hkakabo Razi is located in the north Burmese upper catchment area of ​​the Irrawaddy. In the Chinese-Dandalika Shan border area between China and Burma, this forms the Irrawaddy source region over 200 km; two peaks reach here over 5800 m height, the Hkakabo Razi and the Gamlang Razi. The Hkakabo Razi was discovered in 1923 by an Indian researcher who made the region known to the world through the publication of the botanist Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1937. Kingdon-Ward also discovered the access to the region in Andung Wang (Wang means a valley in Chinese).

The Hkakabo Razi massif is characterized by many small glaciers. They belong to the type of avalanche kettle glacier , the tongues of which descend into the glacier fractures in the short hanging valleys into the main valleys. To the west of Hkakabo Razi, however, there is also a large ice field. The summit is made of granite. Nothing is currently known about the geology of the lower parts.

The striking ice-covered karling of the Hkakabo Razi lies roughly in the middle on a very steep high mountain ridge that stretches west-east, at which a short side ridge branches off to the south at Hkakabo Razi with 5500 m high peaks. In the north and south the Hkakabo Razi ridge is divided by deep and difficult to pass glacier-free notched valley valleys. Earlier lower glacial levels are marked by clearly protruding terminal moraines. A glacial sculpture of the summit pyramid of Hkakabo Razi and the fact that the actual summit ridge is built by steep granite needles, spindles and columns do not allow direct access to the ice pyramid of Hkakabo Razi. This failed two summit expeditions in the fall of 2014 (Burmese-American sponsored by National Geographic and a Japanese one sponsored by NHK). On August 31, 2015, two Burmese mountaineers disappeared during another attempt to climb the summit. This means that the Hkakabo Razi has only been climbed once until today (July 2016).

natural reserve

On December 30, 1996, the 3812 km² region was declared a nature park , and since November 10, 1998 the summit has been in the middle of the Hkakabo-Razi National Park . This area is famous for its extraordinary diversity of animals and plants, many of the species occurring here have hardly been studied.

The mountain is largely covered by rainforests up to a height of approx. 2700 meters , deciduous forests can be found in the montane elevation above , and coniferous forests from 3400 meters. The alpine level starts at 4500 meters. Above that, snow and glaciers dominate all year round.

Alpinism

The first ascent of Hkakabo Razi took place on September 15, 1996 by the Japanese Takashi Ozaki and the Burmese Nyama Gyaltsen from the north side and over the east ridge. Ozaki had tried to reach the summit a year earlier, but had to cancel his ascent and turn back due to bad weather. The American expedition led by Hillary O'Neill was accompanied by experienced high altitude mountaineers. The German-Turkish documentary filmmaker and extreme mountaineer Renan Öztürk accompanied the company, which was sponsored by National Geographic and Northface. This team also tried to ascend via the north side, but this time via the west ridge. After this team, consisting of five mountaineers and a manager of the camp, had set up two high-altitude camps and a bivouac, a second bivouac in the open air and without sleeping bags would have been necessary for a successful summit ascent. Due to the high risk of spending a night unsecured below the summit and the fact that the female climbers waiting in the second altitude camp no longer had ropes, the attempt to climb the summit was canceled. According to the expedition leader O'Neill, her impression that the Hkakabo Razi is one of the most difficult and dangerous mountains in the world has hardened. Extreme climber and high-altitude climber Emily Harrington , a five-time US champion and vice world champion in extreme climbing and the first woman to have completed several levels of difficulty 5.14 , said about the ascent on Hkakabko Razi: "It was extremely difficult to get there and extremely scary". She described the level of difficulty of the summit as beyond her ability. She decided not to climb any further in the second altitude camp.

Until 1993 foreigners were not allowed to enter the area, which was also responsible for the late first ascent.

The way from Putao , the next larger city, to the base camp at over 3000 meters above sea level is long (takes about four weeks) and arduous, as it leads through rainforests and many unbridged streams have to be crossed. Due to the monsoon , the best months for expeditions to the Hkakabo Razi are April, May, September, October and November.

Individual evidence

  1. http://neverstopexploring.com/expeditions/myanmar/#dispatch-7235
  2. Hkakabo Razi climb Myanmar
  3. Hillaree O'Neill 2015: Hkakabo Razi, West Ridge Attempt. Alpine America 2015 [1]
  4. http://blog.junipersys.com/gamlang-razi-elevation/#comment-108
  5. ^ Avifauna of the Southeastern Himalayan Mountains and neighboring Myanmar hill country. Bonn zoological bulletin, January 2015, Supplement 62: 1–75 (Researchgate: PDF)
  6. ^ Ibid Hillary O'Neill 2015
  7. Weekend Warm-up: Down to Nothing
  8. Tamotso (Tom) Nakamura 2015: Veiled Mountains in North Myanmar - Hkakabo Razi and Gamlang Razi on Rohit-Irrawady Diviide . Japanese Alpine News, No. 16, 2015, 46-55, published by the Japanese Alpine Club [2]
  9. ibid. Hillary O'Neill 2015
  10. ^ Total Failure: The Mountain That Got Away