Lhotse

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Lhotse
Lhotse south face from Chukhung Ri

Lhotse south face from Chukhung Ri

height 8516  m
location Solukhumbu District ( Nepal ),
Tibet ( China )
Mountains Mahalangur Himal ( Himalaya )
Dominance 2.62 km →  Mount Everest
Notch height 610 m ↓  Everest-Südsattel ( South Col ) ( 7906  m )
Coordinates 27 ° 57 '48 "  N , 86 ° 56' 0"  E Coordinates: 27 ° 57 '48 "  N , 86 ° 56' 0"  E
Map of Lhotse
First ascent May 18, 1956 by Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger
Normal way Western Cwm → Northwest Face

The Lhotse (in China officially Lhozê ; Tibetan ལྷོ་ རྩེ Wylie lho rtse ; Chinese  洛子峰 , Pinyin Luòzǐ Fēng ) is a mountain in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and China . With a height of 8516  m , it is the fourth highest mountain on earth . The Lhotse is a neighboring mountain of Mount Everest , with which it is connected via its 7,986  m high south saddle. The Tibetan name Lhotse means "southern tip" and indicates that it belongs to the Everest massif.

From the Lhotse and its secondary peak Lhotse Shar, over 3000 m high rock faces drop in a southerly direction. Due to the enormous height difference and the extreme height, these are among the most difficult and dangerous walls on earth in terms of climbing technology.

Ascent history

The first ascent was made on May 18, 1956 by a Swiss expedition. Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss were the first of the team of eleven to reach the summit under the direction of Albert Eggler . The Swiss Himalayan Expedition commissioned by the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research had already set up its base camp on April 7th at an altitude of 5370  m on the Khumbu Glacier . Camp IV was set up on May 1st at an altitude of 6,800  m . The first so-called summit storm of the Lhotse was made from Camp VI, which is around 1000 m higher. Taking advantage of this storage chain, four expedition members also reached the summit of neighboring Mount Everest . Ernst Schmied and Jürg Marmet stood on May 23, Hansruedi von Gunten and Dölf Reist on May 24, 1956 on the highest mountain in the world, which enabled them to climb the mountain for the second time.

In 1977 Michael Dacher was the first person to reach the summit without additional oxygen.

On October 16, 1986, Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander stood on the summit of Lhotse. Messner was able to reach the summit before the onset of winter and just 20 days after that of Makalu . Reinhold Messner was the first person to stand on all 14 eight-thousanders .

On October 24, 1989, Jerzy Kukuczka fell fatally on the south face at an altitude of 8,200  m . In 1989 Reinhold Messner also failed here as the leader of an international expedition.

On April 24, 1990 Tomo Česen claims to have climbed to the summit, but cannot provide any clear evidence. However, his project is preceded by years of preparation and months of route and weather studies on the wall. In addition, the days of his ascent, the reaching of the summit and the descent via the same route verifiably coincide with a full moon phase, which was crucial because Cesen was only able to climb reasonably safely and alone at night due to falling rocks and ice.

Also in 1990 a Russian expedition with the aid of additional oxygen was verifiably successful.

On September 30, 2018, Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison ski down from the summit of Lhotse. It was the first complete ski journey.

Lhotse summit

Lhotse (right), Mt. Everest and Nuptse (foreground)
designation height Date of first ascent First ascent
Lhotse (Lhotse Main) 8516  m May 18, 1956 F. Luchsinger, E. Reiss
Lhotse Middle (Lhotse West, western intermediate summit) 8410  m May 23, 2001 A. Bolotov , P. Kuznetsov, S. Timofeev, Y. Vinogradski
Lhotse Middle (Eastern Intermediate Summit) 8372  m unclimbed
Lhotse Shar (East Summit) 8382  m May 12, 1970 Sepp Mayerl , Rolf Walter
The Nuptse Lhotse south face is still dominated by Mount Everest

Lhotse Middle

The Lhotse Middle is only a secondary peak of the Lhotse, which despite its height of 8,410 m does not appear in the classic list of 14 eight-thousanders . This, and above all its location on an extremely steep and rugged ridge , meant that it remained unclimbed as one of the last of only around 30 peaks with more than 8000  m until 2001 .

It is located between the main peak and the Lhotse Shar and is therefore also known as the intermediate peak . It is the higher and more westerly of the two intermediate peaks of the Lhotse. The second intermediate peak is also referred to as Middle , but mostly with the addition East for the more eastern location. The altitude is sometimes given differently in the sources, with 8400  m , but also with only 8372  m .

Lhotse Shar

The Lhotse Shar is a 8382  m high secondary peak of the Lhotse. It is located at the eastern end of the extremely steep and jagged ridge and is therefore also called the East Summit. It is officially listed as a minor summit of the Lhotse. In terms of dominance and the Schartenhöhe , it barely misses the limits set for the Himalayas in order to be considered an independent summit.

swell

  1. ↑ Dr. Gerhard Schmatz: My life . In: Lhotse 8516 m . Retrieved on November 3, 2008: "The great success of our expedition, in which, by the way, Michel Dacher was the first person to climb a mountain over 8,500 m high without artificial oxygen, remains forever overshadowed by the mourning for our friend Max Lutz."
  2. ↑ Stephanie Geiger: Nine Dead in the Himalayas, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from October 15, 2018.
  3. ↑ Eberhard Jurgalski : Altitude and ascent data at www.8000ers.com

literature

  • Albert Eggler: Summit above the clouds . Hallwag, Bern 1956 (report of the first climbers)
  • Reinhold Messner: The challenge. Two and a eight thousand . Droemer Knaur, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-426-03603-7

Web links

Wiktionary: Lhotse  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Lhotse  - album with pictures, videos and audio files