Location
Machapuchare is at the end of a long spur ridge, coming south out of the main backbone of the Annapurna massif, which forms the eastern boundary of the Annapurna Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a favorite trekking destination, and the site of the base camps for the South Face of Annapurna and for numerous smaller objectives. The Mardi Himal trek, for instance, climbs towards a minor peak. Not
able features
Due to its southern position in the range, and the particularly low terrain that lies south of the Annapurna Himalayas, which contains three of the 10 highest peaks in the world. Machapuchare commands tremendous vertical relief in a short horizontal distance. This, combined with its steep, pointed profile, make it a particularly striking peak, despite a lower elevation than some of its neighbors. Its double summit resembles the tail of a fish, hence the name meaning "fish's tail" in Nepalese. It is also nicknamed the "Matterhorn of Nepal". It is a sacred peak for the Gurungs and the people of Chomrong.[1]
Climbing history
It is believed that Machapuchare has never been climbed to its summit. The only confirmed attempt was in 1957 by a British team led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Roberts. Climbers Wilfrid Noyce and A. Cox climbed to within 150 m (492 ft) of the summit via the north ridge, to an approximate altitude of 22,793 ft (6,947 m). Adhering to the word of honor given to the then King Mahendra, Noyce and his team descended without stepping on to the summit - thus publishing the only climbing record of the mountain a year later. No permits to climb the mountain have been issued ever after. The mountain is said to be sacred as a home to the god Shiva. There have been reports of a New Zealand climber, Bill Denz, making a successful yet illegal attempt to the summit in the early 1980s. Sources
Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine Style. Hodder and Stoughton, 1995. Wilfrid Noyce, Climbing the Fish's Tail, London, 1958
Koichiro Ohmori, Over The Himalaya, Cloudcap Press/The Mountaineers, 1994.
