Shishapangma Explained

Shishapangma
Other Name:Xixabangma
Elevation M:8027
Elevation Ref:
Ranked 14th
Prominence M:2897
Prominence Ref:[1]
Ranked 111th
Listing:Eight-thousander
Ultra
Range:Himalayas
Location:Nyalam County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Map:China Tibet topography
Label Position:top
Coordinates:28.3522°N 85.7797°W
Coordinates Ref:[2]
First Ascent:2 May 1964 by Chinese team:
Xu Jing
Zhang Junyan
Wang Fuzhou
Wu Zongyue
Chen San
Soinam Dorjê
Cheng Tianliang
Migmar Zhaxi
Dorjê
Yun Deng

(First winter ascent 14 January 2005 by Piotr Morawski and Simone Moro)[3]
Easiest Route:snow/ice climb
Tib:ཤི་ཤ་སྦང་མ།
Wylie:shi sha sbang ma
Zwpy:Xixabangma
Lang1:Nepalese
Lang1 Content:शिशापाङ्मा Shishāpāngmā or गोसाईथान Gōsāīthān
S:高僧赞峰
P:Gāosēngzàn Fēng
S2:希夏邦马峰
T2:希夏幫馬峰
P2:Xīxiàbāngmǎ Fēng

Shishapangma,[4] [5] or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma, is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at 8027m (26,335feet) above sea level. It is located entirely within Tibet. In 1964, it became the final eight-thousander to be climbed.

Name

Geologist Toni Hagen explained the name as meaning a "grassy plain" or "meadow" () above a "comb" or a "range" ( or ) in the local Tibetan language, thereby signifying the "crest above the grassy plains".[6] [7]

On the other hand, Tibetologist Guntram Hazod records a local story that explains the mountain's name in terms of its literal meaning in the Standard Tibetan language: , which means "meat of an animal that died of natural causes", and , which means "malt dregs left over from brewing beer". According to the story, one year a heavy snowfall killed most of the animals at pasture. All that the people living near the mountain had to eat was the meat of the dead animals and the malt dregs left over from brewing beer, and so the mountain was named Shisha Pangma (Tibetan: shisha sbangma), signifying "meat of dead animals and malty dregs".[8]

The name of the mountain, Gosainthan, means "place of the saint" or "Abode of God".[9] The name is in use in popular literature. For example, in the comic strip Tintin in Tibet,[10] a fictional Air India flight had crashed at Gosainthan. Tintin, Captain Haddock and the Sherpa team traveled to Gosainthan in search of Chang Chong-Chen.

Geography

Shishapangma is located in south-central Tibet, five kilometres from the border with Nepal. It and Nanga Parbat are the only eight-thousanders entirely within Chinese and Pakistan territory respectively. It is also the highest peak in the Jugal Himal, which is contiguous with and often considered part of Langtang Himal. The Jugal/Langtang Himal straddles the Tibet/Nepal border. Since Shishapangma is on the dry north side of the Himalayan crest and farther from the lower terrain of Nepal, it has less dramatic vertical relief than most major Himalayan peaks.

Shishapangma also has a subsidiary peak higher than 8,000 m, Central Peak, at .

Ascents and attempts

Some of Shishapangma's ascents are not well verified, or still in dispute, with climbers potentially having only reached the slightly lower west peak at or the central peak at, which is still almost two hours of dangerous ridge-climbing from the 19adj=midNaNadj=mid true summit at .[11] [12] [13] Respected Himalayan chronicler and record keeper Elizabeth Hawley[14] [15] famously got Ed Viesturs (amongst others) to re-climb the true main summit of Shishapangma in his quest to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, as she would not accept central (or west) summit ascents as being full ascents of Shishapangma for her Himalayan Database.[16]

Thirty-one people have died climbing Shishapangma, including Americans Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges in 1999, veteran Portuguese climber Bruno Carvalho, and noted Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov, who disappeared on 3 May 2018. Nevertheless, Shishapangma is considered one of the easiest eight-thousanders to climb. The most common ascent, via the North Route, traverses the northwest face and northeast ridge and face, and has relatively easy access, with vehicle travel possible to base camp at 5000-1NaN-1. Routes on the steeper southwest face are more technically demanding and involve 2200m (7,200feet) of ascent on a 50-degree slope.[17]

First ascent

Shishapangma was first climbed, via the Northern Route, on 2 May 1964 by a Chinese expedition led by Xǔ Jìng. In addition to Xǔ Jìng, the summit team consisted of Zhāng Jùnyán (张俊岩), Wang Fuzhou, Wū Zōngyuè (邬宗岳), Chén Sān (陈三), Soinam Dorjê (索南多吉), Chéng Tiānliàng (成天亮), Migmar Zhaxi (米马扎西), Dorjê (多吉), and Yún Dēng (云登).[9]

Later ascents and attempts

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: High Asia II: Himalaya of Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and adjoining region of Tibet. Peaklist.org. 2014-05-29.
  2. 1004. 16 March 2010. Shisha Pangma.
  3. Web site: Moro and Morawski first winter ascent of Shisha Pangma!. planetmountain.com. 14 January 2005. 26 June 2024.
  4. Potterfield, Peter; Viesturs, Ed; Breashears, David (2009). Himalayan Quest: Ed Viesturs Summits All Fourteen 8,000-Meter Giants. National Geographic. p.137 .
  5. Spelled "Shisha Pangma" in Messner, Reinhold (1999). All 14 eight-thousanders. Mountaineers Books. p.105. .
  6. Dyhrenfurth . Günther. O. . Dyhrenfurth . Norman . Shisha Pangma . Mountain . . 53–64 . 1977 . 47 .
  7. Book: Baume, Louis . Sivalaya: explorations of the 8000-metre peaks of the Himalaya . The Mountaineers . 1979 . Seattle . 131–132 . 0-916890-71-6 .
  8. Book: Hazod, Guntram . bKra shis 'od 'bar. On the History of the Religious Protector of the Bo dong pa . 65 . Blondeau . Anne-Marie . Tibetan mountain deities, their cults and representations: papers presented at a panel of the 7th seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz, 1995 . limited . Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften . 1998 . 978-3-7001-2748-2 .
  9. Baume, 1979, op. cit. pp 130-134
  10. Tintin In Tibet, 1960, op. cit. pp 2, 10
  11. . June 2021 . Damien . Gildea . THE 8000-ER MESS . 10 December 2021 . 62 . 94 . Damien Gildea.
  12. News: Only 44 people have reached the summit of all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks, according to the people who chronicle such things. . John . Branch . 21 May 2021 . 10 December 2021 . . John Branch (journalist).
  13. Web site: Asia, Tibet, Cho Oyu and Shisha Pangma Central (West) Summit. American Alpine Journal. 1991.
  14. If a mountaineer wants worldwide recognition that they have reached the summit of some of the most formidable mountains in the world, they will need to get the approval of Elizabeth Hawley.Web site: Elizabeth Hawley, unrivalled Himalayan record keeper. BBC News. 29 August 2010.
  15. Web site: Elizabeth Hawley, Who Chronicled Everest Treks, Dies at 94. New York Times. 26 January 2018.
  16. Book: Keeper of the Mountains: The Elizabeth Hawley Story. 185–195. Rocky Mountain Books. 5 October 2012. 978-1927330159.
  17. Book: Venables . Stephen . Andy . Fanshawe . Himalaya Alpine-Style: The Most Challenging Routes on the Highest Peaks . Mountaineers Books . 1996 . Seattle. 0-89886-456-9 .
  18. Asia, China, Shisha Pangma, Second Ascent . American Alpine Journal. 1981. 0065-6925 .
    1. 23
    . 55 . 26 June 2024 .
  19. Scott & Macintyre 2000, op. cit., pp 303-306
  20. Book: Scott . Doug . Alex . MacIntyre . Shisha Pangma: The Alpine Style First Ascent of the South-West Face . The Mountaineers Books . 2000 . 1984 . Seattle. 0-89886-723-1. 25 June 2024 .
  21. Web site: British Xixabangma (Shishapangma) 1982 . MEF – Mount Everest Foundation. 26 June 2024 .
  22. R. Sale, J. Cleare: On top of the world. Climbing the world's 14 highest mountains, lists of ascents, HarperCollins Publ., 2000, page 221
  23. http://www.himalaya-info.org/shisha_geschichte.htm himalaya-info.org
  24. Asia, Tibet, Shisha Pangma and Kukuczka's 14th 8000er . American Alpine Journal. 1988. 0065-6925 . Józef . Nyka . 978-0930410339 .
    1. 30
    . 62 . 280 . 26 June 2024 .
  25. Shisha Pangma, My Fourteenth 8000er . American Alpine Journal. 1989. 0065-6925 . Jerzy . Kukuczka . 9780930410391 .
    1. 31
    . 63 . 31-38 . 26 June 2024 .
  26. http://www.k2news.com/sp2002kor.htm "Korean Highway Corporation 2002 Shishapangma Expedition"
  27. http://www.everestnews.com/sproute.htm " Korean Alpinists Climb New Route on SW Face of Shishapangma"
  28. "Above the Clouds", pp. 186-197
  29. http://www.8000ers.com/cms/download.html?func=startdown&id=164 List of ascents at 8000ers.com
  30. http://www.dreamwanderlust.com/news/the-final-report-puts-to-rest-all-speculations-surrounding-the-boyan-petrov-search-operation "The final report puts to rest all speculations surrounding the Boyan Petrov Search Operation"
  31. Web site: 2021-11-29. For superhuman Nirmal Purja, climbing 'death zone' Everest took only a day. 2021-12-06. New York Post. en-US.