Kangchenjunga (
NepaliNepali is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
:कञ्चनजङ्घा
Kanchanjaŋghā) is the third highest
mountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
in the world (after
Mount EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
and
K2K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth . With a peak elevation of , K2 is part of the Karakoram range, and is located on the border between the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China and Gilgit, in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan.K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the...
), with an elevation of 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). Kangchenjunga translated means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres, the treasures representing the five repositories of God, which are
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, gems, grain, and holy books. Kangchenjunga is also called
SewaLungma in the local
Limbu languageLimbu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, Sikkim, Kashmir and Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India, by the Limbu community. Virtually all Limbus are bilingual in Nepali....
and is considered sacred in the
KirantKirat-or Kirati- means people with lion nature. It is derived from two words Kira-Lion and Ti- people and it also means people from the mountain. They are indigenous ethnic Kirati group of Nepal. It includes the Limbu, Rai, Yakkha and Sunuwar ethnic groups. The Kirat were the earliest inhabitants...
religion.
Three of the five peaks (main, central, and south) are on the border of
North SikkimNorth Sikkim is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its capital is Mangan. It is the largest of the four districts of Sikkim. Mangan is also known as the Cardamom Capital of the world. The climate and terrain best suit the cultivation of the larger variety of Cardamom here.The people are...
district of Sikkim, India and Taplejung District of Nepal, while the other two are completely in
Taplejung DistrictTaplejung District, a part of Mechi Zone, is one of seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Taplejung as its district headquarters, covers an area of 3,646km² and has a population of 134,698....
.
Kangchenjunga (
NepaliNepali is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
:कञ्चनजङ्घा
Kanchanjaŋghā) is the third highest
mountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
in the world (after
Mount EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
and
K2K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth . With a peak elevation of , K2 is part of the Karakoram range, and is located on the border between the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China and Gilgit, in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan.K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the...
), with an elevation of 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). Kangchenjunga translated means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres, the treasures representing the five repositories of God, which are
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, gems, grain, and holy books. Kangchenjunga is also called
SewaLungma in the local
Limbu languageLimbu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, Sikkim, Kashmir and Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India, by the Limbu community. Virtually all Limbus are bilingual in Nepali....
and is considered sacred in the
KirantKirat-or Kirati- means people with lion nature. It is derived from two words Kira-Lion and Ti- people and it also means people from the mountain. They are indigenous ethnic Kirati group of Nepal. It includes the Limbu, Rai, Yakkha and Sunuwar ethnic groups. The Kirat were the earliest inhabitants...
religion.
Three of the five peaks (main, central, and south) are on the border of
North SikkimNorth Sikkim is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its capital is Mangan. It is the largest of the four districts of Sikkim. Mangan is also known as the Cardamom Capital of the world. The climate and terrain best suit the cultivation of the larger variety of Cardamom here.The people are...
district of Sikkim, India and Taplejung District of Nepal, while the other two are completely in
Taplejung DistrictTaplejung District, a part of Mechi Zone, is one of seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Taplejung as its district headquarters, covers an area of 3,646km² and has a population of 134,698....
. Nepal is home to the
Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Project run by the World Wildlife Fund
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/where/nepal/our_solutions/conservation_nepal/kangchenjunga/index.cfm
http://www.wwf.biz/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/where/nepal/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=81140
http://www.darwin.gov.uk/projects/details/14013.html
http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2006/sep/sep22/news14.php
http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/him/projects/projects5.cfm, in association with
HMGHer Majesty's Government is the government of the United Kingdom. Under the Constitution of the United Kingdom, executive authority notionally lies with the monarch but is exercised in practice by her ministers...
in
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, the sanctuary is also home to the
Red PandaThe Red Panda, also called the Firefox or Lesser Panda , is a mostly herbivorous mammal, specialized as a bamboo feeder. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat....
and other snow animals, birds and plants. India's side of Kangchenjunga also has a protected park area called the
Khangchendzonga National ParkKhangchendzonga National Park is a national park and a Biosphere reserve located in North Sikkim district in the Indian state of Sikkim.The park gets its name from the mountain Khangchendzonga which is about 8585 metres tall. The total area of this park is about 850 km².There are many glaciers in...
.
Although
Kangchenjunga is the official spelling adopted by
Douglas FreshfieldDouglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880...
, A.M. Kellas, and the
Royal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical sciences, under the patronage of King William IV...
that gives the best indication of the
TibetanThe Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh, Nepal,...
pronunciation, there are a number of alternative spellings which include
Kangchen Dzö-nga,
Khangchendzonga,
Kanchenjanga,
Kachendzonga,
Kanchenjunga or
Kangchanfanga. The final word on the use of the name
Kangchenjunga came from His Highness Sir
Tashi NamgyalTashi Namgyal was the ruling Chogyal of Sikkim from 1914 to 1963. He was the son of Thutob Namgyal....
, the
MaharajaThe word Mahārāja is Sanskrit for "great king" or "high king" . Due to Sanskrit's major influence on the vocabulary of most languages in India and Asia, the term 'maharaja' is common to many modern languages, such as Oriya, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujrati, etc...
or
chogyalThe Chogyal were the monarchs of the former kingdom of Sikkim. The Chogyal or divine ruler was the absolute potentate of the nation from 1642 to 1975, when the monarchy was abrogated and the people voted to make Sikkim India's 22nd state....
of Sikkim, who stated that "although
junga had no meaning in Tibetan, it really ought to have been Zod-nga (treasure, five) Kang-chen (snow, big) to convey the meaning correctly". Following consultations with a Lieutenant-Colonel J.L.R. Weir (HMG political agent to Sikkim), he agreed that it was best to leave it as Kangchenjunga, and thus the name remained so by acceptance and usage.
Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was
assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations made by the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Great Trigonometric SurveyThe Great Trigonometric Survey was a project of the Survey of India throughout most of the 19th century. It was piloted in its initial stages by William Lambton, and later by George Everest. Among the many accomplishments of the Survey were the demarcation of the British territories in India, and...
in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest (known as Peak XV at the time) was the highest and Kangchenjunga the third-highest. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on May 25, 1955 by
Joe BrownJoe Brown is an English climber, born the seventh and last child of a family in the Manchester suburb of Ardwick. He became famous for climbing during the 1950s, and was a member of the Valkyrie climbing club and founding member of the Rock and Ice climbing club. An early climbing partner was Don...
and
George BandGeorge Christopher Band OBE is a British mountaineer. Having started climbing in the Alps while a student at Queens' College, Cambridge, he was the youngest person on the 1953 Everest expedition where Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful ascent of the peak. Two years later,...
of a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
expedition. The British expedition honoured the beliefs of the Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Most successful summit parties since then have followed this tradition.
Geography
The five peaks of Kangchenjunga are as follows:
| Name of peak |
Height (m) |
Height (ft) |
| Kangchenjunga Main |
8,586 |
28,169 |
| Kangchenjunga West (Yalung Kang) |
8,505 |
27,904 |
| Kangchenjunga Central (Middle) |
8,482 |
27,828 |
| Kangchenjunga South |
8,494 |
27,867. |
| Kangbachen |
7,903 |
25,925 |
The huge massif of Kangchenjunga is buttressed by great ridges running roughly due east to west and north to south, forming a giant 'X'. These ridges contain a host of peaks between 6,000 and 8,000 metres. On the east ridge in Sikkim, is
SiniolchuSiniolchu is one of the tallest mountains of the Indian state of Sikkim. The 6888 m mountain is considered to be a particularly beautiful mountain, having been described by Douglas Freshfield as "the most superb triumph of mountain architecture and the most beautiful snow mountain in the world"...
(6,888 m/22,600 ft). The west ridge culminates in the magnificent
JannuJannu or is an important Western outlier of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. It is a large and steep peak in its own right, and has numerous challenging climbing routes....
(7,710 m/25,294 ft) with its imposing north face. To the south, clearly visible from Darjeeling, are
KabruKabru is a mountain in the Himalayas on the border of India and Nepal. It is part of a ridge that extends south from Kangchenjunga.The main features of this ridge are as follows :*Kangchenjunga south top, 8476 m, at...
North (7,338 m/24,075 ft),
KabruKabru is a mountain in the Himalayas on the border of India and Nepal. It is part of a ridge that extends south from Kangchenjunga.The main features of this ridge are as follows :*Kangchenjunga south top, 8476 m, at...
South (7,316 m/24,002 ft) and Rathong peaks (6,678 m/21,910 ft). The north ridge, after passing through the minor subpeak Kangchenjunga North (7741 m/25,397 ft), contains The Twins and Tent Peak, and runs up to the Tibetan border by the Jongsong La, a pass.
Kangchenjunga is known for its famous views from the
hill stationHill station is a term used for a town usually at somewhat higher elevations. The term was used in colonial Asia , where towns have been founded by European colonial rulers up where temperatures are cooler, as refuges from the summer heat...
of
DarjeelingDarjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal.It was part of Nepal. When India was ruled by British a treaty was signed to keep all three countries involved safe Sugauli Treaty was signed, in which many parts of Nepal were made Indian...
. On a clear day, it presents an image not as much of a mountain but of a white wall hanging from the sky. The people of Sikkim revere Kangchenjunga as a sacred mountain. Permission to climb the mountain from the Indian side is rare, but sometimes allowed.
Because of its remote location in Nepal and difficult access from India, the Kangchenjunga region is not much explored by trekkers. It has, therefore, retained much of its pristine beauty. In Sikkim too, trekking into the Kangchenjunga region has just been permitted. The
Goecha LaGoecha La is a high mountain pass in Sikkim, India in the Himalaya range.The pass gives a view of the southeast face of Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world and is also the base camp for all those aspiring to scale the great mountain.The trek to Goecha La starts from the town of...
trek is gaining popularity amongst tourists. It goes to the Goecha La Pass, located right in front of the huge southeast face of Kangchenjunga. Another trek to Green Lake Basin has recently been opened for trekking. This goes to the Northeast side of Kangchenjunga along the famous
Zemu GlacierZemu Glacier is the largest glacier in the Eastern Himalaya.It is about 26 kilometres in length and found at the base of the Kangchenjunga in the Sikkim Himalaya, India...
.
The Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) covers 2,035 km² surrounding the mountain on the Nepalese side.
Climbing history
Early reconnaissance and attempts
- 1848/49 Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was one of the founders of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
explored parts of the eastern Nepal previously completely unknown to Europeans. He made repeated tours of the river valleys into the foothills leading up to Kangchenjunga, reaching within 22 km of the peak, and the passes into Tibet.
- 1855 Herrmann von Schlagaintweit from Germany was put in charge of the Magnetic Survey of India, exploring the vicinity and painting a panorama of Everest and Kanchenjunga, prior to being turned back by Nepalese soldiers.
- 1882/83 British pioneer of Himalayan mountaineering, W.W. Graham, claimed to have circumnavigated the mountain in March 1882, returning in July 1883 with two Swiss guides for a purported attempt whilst climbing other peaks in the area and hunting snow leopard
The snow leopard , sometimes known as ounce, is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia...
.
- 1899 British explorer Douglas Freshfield
Douglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880...
and the Italian photographer Vittorio SellaVittorio Sella was an Italian photographer and mountaineer, who took photographs of mountains which are regarded as some of the finest ever made....
were the first to circumnavigate the mountain. They were the first mountaineers to view the great Western Face of Kangchenjunga.
- 1905 The Kangchenjunga expedition (1905) was the first attempt at climbing the mountain. Headed by Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
and Dr. Jules Jacot-Guillarmod, they reached 6,500 metres on the southwest side of the mountain before turning back. Climber Alexis Pache and three local porters were killed in an avalanche.
- 1929 A German expedition led by Paul Bauer reached on the northeast spur before being turned back by a five-day storm
A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
.
- 1930 An International Expedition led by George Dyhrenfurth, German Uli Wieland, Austrian Erwin Schneider and Englishman Frank Smythe
Francis Sydney Smythe, also known as Frank Smythe was a British mountaineer, author, photographer and botanist in the early years of high altitude mountaineering....
(who published "The Kangchenjunga Adventure" in the same year). The attempt failed due to poor weather and snow conditions.
- 1931 A second German expedition, led again by Paul Bauer, attempted the northeast spur before being turned back by bad weather, illnesses, and deaths. The expedition retreated after climbing only a little higher than the 1929 attempt.
- 1954 A reconnaissance of Kangchenjunga's southwest side was made by John Kempe (leader), J.W. Tucker, Ron Jackson, Trevor H. Braham, G.C. Lewis, and Dr. D.S. Mathews. This reconnaissance led to the route used by the successful 1955 expedition.
The first ascent
In 1955,
Joe BrownJoe Brown is an English climber, born the seventh and last child of a family in the Manchester suburb of Ardwick. He became famous for climbing during the 1950s, and was a member of the Valkyrie climbing club and founding member of the Rock and Ice climbing club. An early climbing partner was Don...
and George Band made the first ascent on May 25, followed by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather on May 26. The full team also included John Clegg (team doctor),
Charles EvansSir Robert Charles Evans M.D., DSc, , was a British mountaineer, surgeon, and educator.Born in Liverpool, he was raised in Wales and became a fluent Welsh language speaker. Educated at Shrewsbury School and Oxford University, where he studied medicine, he qualified as a doctor in 1942 and joined...
(team leader),
John Angelo JacksonJohn Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist.-Early life:He was brought up and educated in Nelson, Lancashire. Before World War II, he was apprenticed in pharmacy. However, at the outbreak of war, he left to volunteer for the R.A.F. in which he served for six...
, Neil Mather, and Tom Mackinnon.
The ascent proved that
Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
's 1905 route (also investigated by the 1954 reconnaissance) was viable. The route starts on the Yalung Glacier to the southwest of the peak, and climbs the Yalung Face, which is high. The main feature of this face is the "Great Shelf", a large sloping plateau at around , covered by a hanging glacier. The route is almost entirely on snow,
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
, and one
icefallAn icefall is a portion of some glaciers characterized by rapid flow and a chaotic crevassed surface. Perhaps the most conspicuous consequence of glacier flow, icefalls occur where the glacier bed steepens and/or narrows...
; the summit ridge itself can involve a small amount of travel on rock.
The first ascent expedition made six camps above their base camp, two below the Shelf, two on it, and two above it. They started on April 18, and everyone was back to base camp by May 28.
British Army Ascent
In 'Mossdale and other caving and climbing miscelania' by Robert D. Leakey, due for publication in December 2009, there is an account and photographs of an unofficial expedition to the summit by a group of soldiers during World War 2.
Other notable ascents
- 1973 Climbers Yutaka Ageta and Takeo Matsuda of the Japanese expedition, summitted Kangchenjunga West (Yalung Kang) by climbing the SW Ridge.
- 1977 The second ascent of Kangchenjunga, by an Indian Army team led by Colonel Narinder Kumar. They completed the northeast spur, the difficult ridge that defeated the German expeditions in 1929 and 1931.
- 1978 A Polish team made the first successful ascent of the south summit (Kangchenjunga II).
- 1979 The third ascent, on May 15, and the first without oxygen, by Doug Scott
Douglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott is a British mountaineer famous for the first ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975...
, Peter BoardmanPeter Boardman was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books. Born in Stockport, England, he began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps...
, and Joe TaskerJoe Tasker was one of the most talented British climbers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Born into a traditional Roman Catholic family, he was one of ten children and spent his early childhood in Port Clarence, Middlesbrough then attended Ushaw Seminary, County Durham between the ages of 13...
establishing a new route on the North Ridge
- 1983 Pierre Beghin made the first solo ascent and without oxygen.
- 1986 On January 11, Krzysztof Wielicki
Krzysztof Wielicki - Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. One of the most outstanding himalaists of the world. He is the fifth man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders. On three of them: Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Lhotse, he climbed as the first man ever to do so in winter...
and Jerzy KukuczkaJerzy Kukuczka , born in Katowice, Poland, was a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber. On 18 September 1987, he became the second man, after Reinhold Messner, to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world....
, PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
climbers made the first winter ascent.
- 1991 Marija Frantar and Joze Rozman attempted the first ascent by a woman but their bodies were later found below the summit headwall. The same year, Andrej Stremfelj and Marko Prezelj completed a perfect, technically demanding, elegant alpine style climb up the south ridge of Kangchenjunga to the south summit (8,494 m).
- 1992 Wanda Rutkiewicz
Wanda Rutkiewicz was born on February 4, 1943 in Plungė, Lithuania). She died either on May 12 or May 13, 1992, while climbing Kangchenjunga...
, the first women to ascend and descend K2 and a respected Polish climber, died after she declined to descend in the face of an incoming storm.
- 1995 Benoît Chamoux
Benoît Chamoux was a French Alpinist born in La Roche-sur-Foron near Mont Blanc in the department of Haute-Savoie, France on February 19th, 1961...
, Pierre Royer and their Sherpa guide disappeared on October 6 near the summit.
- 1998 Ginette Harrison
Ginette Harrison was a professional climber of British origin. She also lived in Australia and the United States....
became the first woman to reach the summit. Until then Kangchenjunga was the only eight-thousander that had not seen a female ascent.
- 2005 Alan Hinkes
Alan Hinkes OBE is an English mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. Hinkes claims to be the first British mountaineer to have summited all 14 mountains with elevations greater than 8000 metres, the so-called Eight-thousanders; however, this claim is disputed .He was awarded an...
, a British climber, was the only person able to summit Kangchenjunga in its 50th anniversary of first ascent year.
- 2006 Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is an Austrian mountaineer. In summer 2007, she married her mountaineering partner Ralf Dujmovits and lives in the Black Forest ....
, an Austrian mountaineer, was the second woman to reach the summit.
- 2009 Edurne Pasaban
Edurne Pasaban is a Spanish mountaineer. She was the third woman, after Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Nives Meroi, who has climbed eleven of the fourteen eight-thousanders.On May 18, 2009, she added Kangchenjunga to her record, becoming the first woman who has climbed 12...
, a Spanish mountaineer reached the summit, becoming the first woman to summit 12 eight-thousands.
.
- 2009 Jon Gangdal, a Norwegian mountaineer reached the summit, becoming the first Norwegian to summit this mountain.
Relevant Background Reading
Some titles are no longer in print but are easily locatable on the Internet.
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was one of the founders of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
"Himalayan Journals" 1855. Assistant-director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Maj Laurence Waddell, "Among The Himalayas", 1899; Travels in Sikkim. Book includes the exploration of the south of Kangchenjunga.
- Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
"The Confessions of Aleister Crowley", Chapters 51, 52 & 53, Tells of the 1905 Kangchenjunga Expedition by he and Dr. Jacot-Guillarmod.
- Douglas Freshfield
Douglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880...
"Round Kangchenjunga - A Narrative of Mountain Travel and Exploration", published by Edward Arnold 1903 (Publisher to the H.M. India Office).
- Paul Bauer
Paul Bauer was a German poet.In 1932 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "Am Kangehenzonga".-External links:*...
"The German Attack on Kangchenjunga" by (Blackwell, 1937) is the story of Bauer’s two attempts in 1929 and 1931.
- Paul Bauer
Paul Bauer was a German poet.In 1932 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "Am Kangehenzonga".-External links:*...
"The German Attack on Kangchenjunga" The Himalayan Journal, 1930 Vol. II.
- Lieut. Col. H.W. Tobin "Exploration and Climbing in The Sikkim Himalaya" The Himalayan Journal, April 1930 Vol. II. Provides the early exploration and climbing attempts on Kangchenjunga.
- F.S. Smythe "The Kangchenjunga Adventure", 1930 to 1931. Victor Gollancz, Ltd. Smythe was the team member responsible for writing and sending the dispatches to The Statesman
The Statesman is among the leading daily newspapers of India. It is published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar. Established in 1875, it has its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national editorial offices in Statesman House,...
in Calcutta, (Mr. Alfred Watson Editor), who transmitted the dispatches to The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
(editors Deakin & Bogaerde), during the expedition of 1930 * example.
- Prof. G.O. Dyhrenfurth "The International Himlayan Expedition, 1930" The Himalayan Journal, April 1931, Vol. III. Details their attempt on Kangchenjunga.
- "The ascent of Nanda Devi", H.W. Tilman, June 7 1937,Cambridge University Press. Relates the story of their intention to climb Kangchenjunga.
- Irving, R. L. G.
Robert Lock Graham Irving , was an English schoolmaster, writer and mountaineer. As an author, he used the name R. L. G. Irving, while to his friends he was Graham Irving.-Life and family:...
, Ten Great Mountains (London, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1940)
- John Angelo Jackson
John Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist.-Early life:He was brought up and educated in Nelson, Lancashire. Before World War II, he was apprenticed in pharmacy. However, at the outbreak of war, he left to volunteer for the R.A.F. in which he served for six...
"More than Mountains" 1955. Book containing data on the 1954 Kangchenjunga reconnaissance. Jackson was also a team member of the 1st ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955], also relates the Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily tabloid newspaper. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper, The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the paper were launched in...
"Abominable Snowman" or YetiThe Yeti or Abominable Snowman is a mythological creature and an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
Expedition, when the first trek from EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
to Kangchenjunga was accomplished * http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/. Relevant pages 97 onwards with two detailed maps.
- Charles Evans "Kangchenjunga The Untrodden Peak", Hodder & Stoughton, Leader of the 1955 expedition. Principal of the University College of North Wales, Bangor. Foreword by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, K.G.
- Joe Brown
Joe Brown is an English climber, born the seventh and last child of a family in the Manchester suburb of Ardwick. He became famous for climbing during the 1950s, and was a member of the Valkyrie climbing club and founding member of the Rock and Ice climbing club. An early climbing partner was Don...
, "The Hard Years", tells his version of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955.
- Colonel Narinder Kumar, "Kangchenjunga: First ascent from the north-east spur", 1978, Vision books. Includes the second ever ascent of Kangchenjunga and the first from the North-East Spur on the Indian side of the mountain. See also Himalayan Journal Vol. 36 and 50th Anniversary Edition
- Peter Boardman
Peter Boardman was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books. Born in Stockport, England, he began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps...
, Doug ScottDouglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott is a British mountaineer famous for the first ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975...
, Sacred Summits – A Climber's Year, 1982; Includes the 1979 ascent of Kangchenjunga with Joe Tasker and Doug Scott. Also in The Himalayan Journal Vol 36.
- John Angelo Jackson
John Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist.-Early life:He was brought up and educated in Nelson, Lancashire. Before World War II, he was apprenticed in pharmacy. However, at the outbreak of war, he left to volunteer for the R.A.F. in which he served for six...
Adventure Travels in the Himalaya Indus Publishing 2005, Recounts in more detail the first ascent of Kangchenjunga.
The above Himalayan Journal References were all also reproduced in the "50th Anniversary of the First Ascent of Kangchenjunga" The himalayan Club, Kollkata Section 2005.
- Khangchendzonga: Sacred Summit, a book by Pema Wangchuk and Mita Zulca published from Sikkim. The book details the stories and legends celebrated by the communities living in the Kangchenjunga's shadow, goes over the exploits of the early explorers and mountaineers. Chapters cover what Khangchendzonga means to Buddhism, mapping, early explorers, Alexander Kellas, early expeditions, the first ascent in 1955, the Indian Army ascent (1977), the first British ascent (1979), women climbers, the Tiger climbers, the yeti, and more. Profusely illustrated with many period photos.
Articles, Reviews and Media
- The Geographer at High Altitudes, "Climbing on the Himalaya and other Mountain Ranges", By J. Norman Collie, F.R.S. Edinburgh: David Douglas. 1902.
- The Glaciers of Kangchenjunga Douglas Freshfield
Douglas William Freshfield was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the Alpine Journal from 1872 to 1880...
The Geographical Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4 Apr., 1902, pp. 453–472
- Round Kangchenjunga. A Narrative of Mountain Travel and Exploration, Douglas W. Freshfield Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. 36, No. 2 1904
- The Mount Everest Expedition, C. K. Howard-Bury. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 59, No. 2 Feb., 1922, pp. 81–99. see also Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is a mythological creature and an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
. pp. 97 onwards with good detailed maps.
- "General Bruce's Illness a Serious handicap" "The Times", (British) World Copyright, Lt. R.F.Norton, April 19, 1924. Expedition in the Kanchenjunga area.
- Account of a Photographic Expedition to the Southern Glaciers of Kangchenjunga in the Sikkim Himalaya, N. A. Tombazi, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 67, No. 1 Jan., 1926, pp. 74–76
- An Adventure to Kangchenjunga, Hugh Boustead, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Apr., 1927, pp. 344–350
- The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, Thursday, December 11, 1930. "The Kangchenjunga Adventure", F.S. Smythe.
- Im Kampf um den Himalaja, Paul Bauer. The Kangchenjunga Adventure, F. S. Smythe, Himalaya: Unsere Expedition, G. O. Dyhrenfurth. 1930
- The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, Thursday, April 9 1931. "Kangchenjunga", Paul Bauer.
- The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Vol. XXVI, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 79, No. 1 Jan., 1932, pp. 53–56
- Recent Heroes of Modern Adventure, T. C. Bridges; H. Hessell Tiltman, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 81, No. 6 Jun., 1933, p. 568
- Um Den Kantsch: der zweite deutsche Angriff auf den Kangchendzönga, Paul Bauer, 1931. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 81, No. 4 Apr., 1933, pp. 362–363
- Himalayan Campaign: The German Attack on Kangchenjunga, Paul Bauer; Sumner Austin The Geographical Journal, Vol. 91, No. 5 May, 1938, p. 478
- The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, Friday, December 21, 1956. "Kangchenjunga: The Untrodden Peak", Charles Evans.
- Kangchenjunga Climbed, Charles Evans; George Band, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 122, No. 1 Mar., 1956, pp. 1–12
In literature
- In the Swallows and Amazons
Swallows and Amazons is a series of children's books by English author Arthur Ransome, named after the title of the first book in the series. The 12 books involve adventures by groups of children almost all during the school holidays and mostly in England and Scotland, between the two World Wars...
series of books by Arthur RansomeArthur Mitchell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common...
, a high mountain (unnamed in the book, but clearly based on the Old Man of Coniston in the English Lake DistrictThe Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a rural area in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains , and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets.The central and...
) is given the name "Kanchenjunga" by the children when they climb it in 1931.
- In The Epic of Mount Everest, first published in 1926, Sir Francis Younghusband
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, KCSI, KCIE was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer...
: " For natural beauty Darjiling (DarjeelingDarjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal.It was part of Nepal. When India was ruled by British a treaty was signed to keep all three countries involved safe Sugauli Treaty was signed, in which many parts of Nepal were made Indian...
) is surely unsurpassed in the world. From all countries travellers come there to see the famous view of Kangchenjunga, in height, and only distant. Darjiling (Darjeeling) itself is above sea-level and is set in a forest of oaks, magnolia, rhododendrons, laurels and sycamores. And through these forests the observer looks down the steep mountain-sides to the Rangeet River only above sea-level, and then up and up through tier after tier of forest-clad ranges, each bathed in a haze of deeper and deeper purple, till the line of snow is reached; and then still up to the summit of Kangchenjunga, now so pure and ethereal we can scarcely believe it is part of the solid earth on which we stand; and so high it seems part of the very sky itself."
- In 1999, official James Bond
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
author Raymond BensonRaymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the adult James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973...
published High Time to KillHigh Time to Kill, published in 1999, is the fourth novel by Raymond Benson featuring Ian Fleming’s secret agent, James Bond . This is the first James Bond novel copyrighted by Ian Fleming Publications...
. In this story, a microdotA microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size onto a 1mm disc to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular around one millimetre in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials such as polyester...
containing a secret formula for aviation technology is stolen by a society called the Union. During their escape, their plane crashes on the slopes of Kangchenjunga and James Bond becomes part of a climbing expedition in order to retrieve the formula.
- The Inheritance of Loss
The Inheritance of Loss is the second novel by Indian author Kiran Desai. It was first published in 2006 and won the Man Booker Prize for that year as well as the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award in 2007....
by Kiran DesaiKiran Desai is an Indian author who is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. Her novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award...
, which won the 2006 Man Booker PrizeThe Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of either the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe...
, is set partly in KalimpongKalimpong is a hill station nestled in the Shiwalik Hills in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong subdivision, a part of the district of Darjeeling...
, a hill stationHill station is a term used for a town usually at somewhat higher elevations. The term was used in colonial Asia , where towns have been founded by European colonial rulers up where temperatures are cooler, as refuges from the summer heat...
situated near Kangchenjunga.
External links