Dolakha, December 25

A team of Nepali mountain guides, including a female mountaineer, successfully climbed Mt Langdung (6,357 m) in what was the first-ever successful ascent of the peak this winter season.

According to the Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, a four-member team led by Nima Tenji Sherpa, 37, scaled the mountain in the Rolwaling valley on December 20. Other members of the team were Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, 27, Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, 38, and Pasang Kidar Sherpa, 35, a DoT official informed, adding that the peak was opened for climbing in 2014.

According to Sherpa, who is also a renowned international mountain guide, all the team members safely descended after the successful summit. The team had started climbing the peak on December 12, he added. “The first ascent will certainly send a positive message to mountaineers around the world.” The team also believes that Mt Langdung will be the most ideal peak for commercial expedition, saying the view from the summit is stunning.

It was technically quite challenging to climb the peakwith extreme cold and strong wind making the ascent riskier, but our team overcame all the challenges, he said. “As a team leader, it was my first ascent of the mountain. I have made four more maiden ascents of different Rolwaling peaks in recent years,” he added.

In 1955, the British Gaurishankar Massive Expedition Himalaya Survey team named the peak Rpimutse (Langdung) which has three summit points —the west peak at 6,301m, the central peak at 6,350m, and the main summit at 6,357m, Sherpa shared.

According to him, the mountain was attempted by several groups before but they didn’t succeed. The last attempt was made in 2016 by Hari Mix from the US and Furtemba Sherpa from Nepal who only managed to reach a height of 6,000m (south face/southeast ridge), he added. A failed attempt was also made on Mt Langdung by a group of climbers from Hong Kong last October.