Ngadi Chuli

Mountain in Nepal

Ngadi Chuli (also known as Peak 29, Dakura, Dakum, or Dunapurna) is a mountain in the Mansiri Himal (or Manaslu Himal), also known as the Gurkha Massif, in Nepal. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the 20th highest mountain on Earth.

Flanked by Manaslu to the north and Himalchuli to the southeast, Ngadi Chuli is the middlemost and third highest mountain of the massif. Though shorter and somewhat rounder than its immediate neighbors when viewed from the more common eastern approaches, it is difficult to access due to snow danger and being flanked by active glaciers in all directions. The steep western side, recessed behind outlying peaks and glacial valleys, rises over above the Thulagi glacier. It is crowned by a steep, technical rock headwall with five summits across its length; only the highest of these is named.

Despite its top 20 height, Ngadi Chuli has only been climbed once or twice. The probable first ascent occurred in 1970, when Hiroshi Watanabe and Sherpa Lhakpa Tsering, members of a Japanese expedition, climbed the east ridge and face. They left their camp V, at about 7,500 metres, for a summit attempt. About 70 m below the summit they disappeared out of sight for nearly two hours at 1:15 PM. On their return, after descending a difficult snow ridge, they suffered a fatal fall down an ice wall, from c. 7,600 m nearly down to camp 4 at 6,900 m, where their climbing partners observed their fall. Neither their camera nor Watanabe's ice ax, to which pennants would have been attached had they reached the summit, survived the fall, so that no conclusive evidence that they reached the summit has ever been found. In order to achieve a confirmed ascent of the mountain, the Japanese organized three more expeditions, in 1974, 1975 and 1978, but these all failed, with the last of these incurring the avalanche deaths of three climbers on the southwestern side of the mountain. As of 2014, no further attempts have been made on the mountain since the British expedition in 1982.

1961 First reconnaissance by Japanese climbers. 1969 Third Japanese attempt reached 7350 m.
1970 Probable first ascent, via the east ridge and face. 1978 Three climbers die in an avalanche during the seventh Japanese attempt. 1979 First confirmed ascent, by a Polish expedition.