Ngadi Chuli (also known as Peak 29, Dakura, Dakum, or Dunapurna) is a high summit in the Mansiri Himal (or Manaslu Himal), also known as the Gurkha Massif, in Nepal. It is flanked by Manaslu to the north and Himalchuli to the south. Despite its top 20 height, Ngadi Chuli has only been climbed once or twice. Hiroshi Watanabe and Sherpa Lhakpa Tsering, members of a Japanese expedition, climbed the e
ast ridge and face. They left their camp V, at about 7500 metres, for a summit attack. 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 ca. 7600 m nearly down to camp 4 at 6900 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 crash so that no conclusive evidence could be found that they had reached the summit. In order to achieve a confirmed ascent of the mountain, the Japanese organized three more expeditions, in 1974, 1978 and 1982, but these all failed. The first confirmed ascent was in 1979 by the Polish climbers Ryszard Gajewski and Maciej Pawlikowski via the West buttress, involving some class V rock climbing at great height. A British Army Mountaineering Association expedition attempted Peak 29 post monsoon 1982. Adverse weather and logistical problems caused by the Falklands war prevented the expedition getting above 20,000 feet. As of 2014, no further attempts have been made on the mountain since the last Japanese expedition in 1982
