Nuptse
Encyclopedia
Nuptse is a mountain
in the Khumbu
region of the Mahalangur Himal
, in the Nepal
ese Himalayas
. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest
. Nuptse is Tibetan
for "west peak", as it is the western segment of the Lhotse
-Nuptse massif
.
The long east-west trending main ridge of Nuptse is crowned by seven peaks:
The main peak, Nuptse I, was first climbed on May 16, 1961 by Dennis Davis
and Sherpa
Tashi, members of a British
expedition. After a long hiatus, Nuptse again became the objective of high-standard mountaineers in the 1990s and 2000s, with important routes being put up on its west, south, and north faces.
While Nuptse is a dramatic peak when viewed from the south or west, and it towers above the base camp for the standard south col route on Everest, it is not a particularly independent peak: its topographic prominence
is only 319 m (1,047 ft). Hence it is not ranked on the list of highest mountains.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in the Khumbu
Khumbu
Khumbu is located in northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of the Sagarmatha Zone. Khumbu is one of three subregions of the main Khambu and Sherpa settlement of the Himalaya, the other two being Solu and Pharak...
region of the Mahalangur Himal
Mahalangur Himal
Mahālangūr Himāl is a section of the Himalaya in northeast Nepal and south-central Tibet extending from the pass Nangpa La between Rolwaling Himal and Cho Oyu east to the Arun River. It includes Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu) -- four of Earth's six highest peaks...
, in the Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
. Nuptse is Tibetan
Tibetan language
The 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 the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
for "west peak", as it is the western segment of the Lhotse
Lhotse
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain on Earth and is connected to Everest via the South Col. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres above sea level, Lhotse Middle is and Lhotse Shar is...
-Nuptse massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
.
The long east-west trending main ridge of Nuptse is crowned by seven peaks:
The main peak, Nuptse I, was first climbed on May 16, 1961 by Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis (climber)
Dennis Davis is a British mountaineer, who along with Sherpa Tashi completed the first ascent of Nuptse on 16 May 1961.-See also:http://www.climbers-club.co.uk/journal/original/1962%20Journal-p306-312.pdf...
and Sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
Tashi, members of a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
expedition. After a long hiatus, Nuptse again became the objective of high-standard mountaineers in the 1990s and 2000s, with important routes being put up on its west, south, and north faces.
While Nuptse is a dramatic peak when viewed from the south or west, and it towers above the base camp for the standard south col route on Everest, it is not a particularly independent peak: its topographic prominence
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...
is only 319 m (1,047 ft). Hence it is not ranked on the list of highest mountains.
External links
- Nuptse on Summitpost
- Nuptse on Peakware - photos