Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu's height was originally measured at {{convert|26,750|ft|m}} and at the time of the first ascent it was considered the 7th highest mountain on earth, after Dhaulagiri at {{convert|8,167|m|ft}} (Manaslu, now {{convert|8,156|m|ft}}, was also estimated lower at {{convert|26,658|ft|m}}). A 1984 estimate of {{convert|8,201|m|ft}} made it move up to sixth place. New measurements made in 1996 by the Government of Nepal Survey Department and the Finnish Meteorological Institute in preparation for the Nepal Topographic Maps put the height at 8,188 m,{{Cite web |url=http://pahar.in/pahar/Maps--Primary/Nepal/Nepal%20Topo%20Maps/2886%2015%20Pasan%20Lhamu%20Chuli.jpg |title=2886 15 Pasan Lhamu Chuli map |access-date=2016-09-24 |archive-date=2016-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924114124/http://pahar.in/pahar/Maps--Primary/Nepal/Nepal%20Topo%20Maps/2886%2015%20Pasan%20Lhamu%20Chuli.jpg |url-status=dead }} one remarkably similar to the {{convert|26,867|ft|m}} used by Edmund Hillary in his 1955 book High Adventure.

Cho Oyu was first attempted in 1952 by an expedition organised and financed by the Joint Himalayan Committee of Great Britain as preparation for an attempt on Mount Everest the following year. The expedition was led by Eric Shipton and included Edmund Hillary, Tom Bourdillon and George Lowe.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6h1/3/3|title=Cho Oyu expedition team, 1952|encyclopedia=The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography|first=Shaun|last=Barnett|date=7 December 2010}} A foray by Hillary and Lowe was stopped due to technical difficulties and avalanche danger at an ice cliff above {{convert|6650|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} and a report of Chinese troops a short distance across the border influenced Shipton to retreat from the mountain rather than continue to attempt to summit.Hillary, pp. 79-80

The mountain was first climbed on October 19, 1954, via the north-west ridge by Herbert Tichy, Joseph Jöchler and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama of an Austrian expedition. Cho Oyu was the fifth eight-thousander to be climbed, after Annapurna in June 1950, Mount Everest in May 1953, Nanga Parbat in July 1953 and K2 in July 1954. Until the ascent of Mount Everest by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978, this was the highest peak climbed without supplemental oxygen.Günter Seyfferth, [http://www.himalaya-info.org/PDF-Dateien/Cho%20Oyu%201954.pdf Cho Oyu, 8201 m, Erkundung, Erstbesteigung, Erstbegehungen, Ereignisse] {{in lang|de}}

File:Chooyu.jpg

Cho Oyu is considered the easiest eight-thousander,{{refn|group=nb|Of the fourteen mountains surpassing the magic number 8000 metres in height, it is considered the easiest one to climb, and only the highest, Everest, has had more ascents.{{cite web| url= http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/2010/goddess-of-turquoise-my-attempt-on-cho-oyu/|title=Goddess of Turquoise: my attempt on Cho Oyu|publisher=Mark Horrell|date=August 2010}}}} with the lowest death-summit ratio ({{frac|25}}th of Annapurna's).{{cite web|url= https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/05/daily-chart-18 |title=Stairway to heaven |publisher=The Economist |date=29 May 2013 |access-date=2015-09-07 |postscript= As of March 2012}}{{cite web|url= http://www.8000ers.com/cms/download.html?func=startdown&id=184|title=ALL 8000ers – ASCENTS vs FATALITIES|publisher=8000ers.com|date=2008}} It is the second most climbed eight-thousander after Everest (whose height makes it the most popular), and has over four times the ascents of the third most popular eight-thousander, Gasherbrum II. It is marketed as a "trekking peak", achievable for climbers with high fitness, but low mountaineering experience.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} It has a broadly flat summit plateau with no cairn (the traditional prayer flags on Cho Oyu's summit plateau do not mark the "technical" summit),{{refn|name="summit"|group=nb|Many people who climb Cho Oyu in Tibet stop at a set of prayer flags with views of Everest and believe they’ve reached the top, unaware they still have to walk for 15 minutes across the summit plateau until they can see the Gokyo Lakes in Nepal.{{cite web|url= http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/2014/when-is-a-summit-not-a-summit/|title=When is a summit not a summit?|publisher=Mark Horrell|date=12 November 2014}}}} which can be a source of confusion, and debate, amongst climbers (see Elizabeth Hawley).{{refn|name="cho"|group=nb|Miss Hawley uses the “did you see Everest” as her standard question, I have mentioned this to her as well. I have summitted Cho Oyu 4 times and will be heading for my fifth this coming season. Each time I have watched the Koreans and Japanese go only to where they can see Everest, not the summit, because they know this is what will be asked.{{cite web|url= https://explorersweb.com/2017/05/09/cho-oyu-summit-where-is-it-exactly-2017-05-09-60289/|title=Cho Oyu summit: Where is it exactly|publisher=Explorersweb.com|date=September 2017}}}}

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{{Himalaya annotated imagemap|caption=Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. (The names on the photo are links to corresponding pages.)|width=600|align=right}}

File:中国地质大学（武汉）登山队登顶卓奥友峰.JPG on 2 October 2008]]

• 1952 First reconnaissance of north-west face by Edmund Hillary and party.
• 1954 First ascent by Austrians Joseph Jöchler and Herbert Tichy, and Pasang Dawa Lama (Nepal)
• 1958 Second ascent of the peak, by an Indian expedition. Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama reaches the peak for the second time. First death on Cho Oyu.
• 1959 Four members are killed in an avalanche during a failed international women's expedition.{{cite journal | title = Asia, Nepal, Cho Oyu | journal =American Alpine Journal| date=1960| issn= 0065-6925 | volume =#12 | pages= | access-date =19 December 2024 |url =http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12196015601 }}
• 1964 A controversial third ascent by a German expedition as there is no proof of reaching the summit. Two mountaineers die of exhaustion in camp 4 at {{convert|7600|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}.
• 1978 Edi Koblmüller and Alois Furtner of Austria summit via the extremely difficult southeast face.
• 1983 Reinhold Messner succeeds on his fourth attempt, with Hans Kammerlander and Michael Dacher.
• 1984 Věra Komárková (USA) and Dina Štěrbová (Czechoslovakia) become the first women to climb Cho Oyu. Štěrbová is also the first woman from Czechoslovakia to climb an 8,000er.
• 1985 On February 12, Poles Maciej Berbeka and Maciej Pawlikowski make the first winter ascent via a new route on the southeast face. It is the only winter ascent on an eight-thousander made on a new route and the first winter ascent without additional oxygen support. The ascent was repeated three days later by Andrzej Heinrich and Jerzy Kukuczka, with Kukuczka setting an additional record for climbing two eight-thousanders during the same winter, as he had earlier climbed Dhaulagiri.{{cite aaj | title = Cho Oyu's Three-Kilometer-High Face| date= 1986|issn = 0065-6925 | first =Andrzej | last = Zawada | isbn= 978-0930410278 | volume =28 | issue=60 | pages=6–13 | access-date = 18 May 2024 |article_id=12198600700}}{{cite book | title = My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks | date=1992| first = Jerzy| last = Kukuczka | isbn =0340534850 |publisher =Hodder & Stoughton | access-date = 8 April 2024 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=-3ATAQAAIAAJ&q=0340534850}}
• 1988 On November 2, a Slovenian expedition consisting of Iztok Tomazin, Roman Robas, Blaž Jereb, Rado Nadvešnik, Marko Prezelj and Jože Rozman reach the summit via the never before climbed north face.
• 1994 On May 13 Carlos Carsolio sets a world record speed ascent from base camp to summit, ascending in 18 hours and 45 minutes.
• 1994 First solo ascent via the South West face by Yasushi Yamanoi.
• 2000 Russian-Finnish expedition of nine climbers summitted the top, but two of them disappeared in the attempt and were presumed dead.
• 2004 Second summit by a double amputee (Mark Inglis)
• 2007 Second Indian ascent. Expedition led by Abhilekh Singh Virdi.
• 2009 Clifton Maloney, husband of US Representative Carolyn Maloney and at that time the oldest American to summit an eight-thousander,{{Cite web|url=http://thevillager.com/villager_335/cliftonmalonoey71.html|title=Clifton Maloney, 71, died on one of highest peaks|website=thevillager.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010042556/http://thevillager.com/villager_335/cliftonmalonoey71.html|archive-date=10 October 2016|access-date=2017-11-08}} died at age 71 after summiting on 25 September. His final words were "I’m the happiest man in the world. I’ve just summited a beautiful mountain."{{Cite web|url=http://gothamist.com/2009/09/27/rep_carolyn_maloneys_husband_dies_during_mountain_climb.php|title=Rep. Carolyn Maloney's Husband Dies During Mountain Climb - Gothamist|date=2009-10-01|access-date=2017-11-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001141450/http://gothamist.com/2009/09/27/rep_carolyn_maloneys_husband_dies_during_mountain_climb.php|archive-date=2009-10-01}}
• 2011 Dutch climber Ronald Naar dies after becoming unwell at {{convert|8000|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}.

File:Cho Oyu, Nepal.jpg

• 1952 British Cho Oyu expedition
• Nangpa La shooting incident (in 2006)
• Cho Oyu 8201m – Field Recordings from Tibet
• List of deaths on Cho Oyu

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4774989.stm

| title = Double amputee scales Mt Everest | work = BBC News

| date = 16 May 2006 | access-date = 2014-05-17}}

{{cite web | url = http://theworldmountain.blogspot.com/2011/06/timeline-climbing-of-cho-oyu.html

| title = Timeline Climbing Of Cho Oyu | publisher = blogspot.com

| date = June 2011 | access-date = 2014-01-15}}

{{cite web | url = http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/05/dutch_mountaineer_ronald_naar.php

| title = Dutch mountaineer Ronald Naar dies during China climb

| publisher = DutchNews.nl

| date = 23 May 2011 | access-date = 2014-01-15}}

{{cite web | url=http://www.k2news.com/co5.htm

| title=Cho Oyu History | author=Everest News.com | access-date=2008-04-12}}

{{cite book | author = Hillary, Edmund | title = High Adventure

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TZTe2AJMeO4C&pg=PA49

| page = 49 | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1955| isbn = 9780195167344

}}

{{cite web | url = http://outside.away.com/outside/disc/guest/carsolio/profile.html

| title = Guest: Carlos Carsolio

| publisher = Outside Online | year = 2000

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070813135324/http://outside.away.com/outside/disc/guest/carsolio/profile.html

| archive-date = 13 August 2007 | access-date = 2014-01-15}}

{{cite web | url = http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2011/05/dutch-climber-ronald-naar-dies-on-cho-oyu.html

| title = Dutch Climber Ronald Naar dies on Cho Oyu

| publisher = Outside Online | work = The Outside Blog Dispatches

| date = 25 May 2011 | access-date = 2014-01-15}}

{{cite peakware|id=1092|name=Cho Oyu }}

{{cite web

| url = http://www.cetneva.spb.ru/en_cho3.htm

| title = Russian-Finnish Expedition Cho-Oyu 2000

| author = Yershov, Andrew

| publisher =

| date = 27 May 2000

| access-date = 2022-05-17

| archive-date = 2015-06-09

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150609062536/http://www.cetneva.spb.ru/en_cho3.htm

| url-status = dead

}}

{{cite web | url = https://www.thebmc.co.uk/piolets-dor-asia-honours-urubko

| title = Piolets d'Or Asia honours Urubko

| author = Griffin, Lindsay

| publisher = The British Mountaineering Council

| date = 11 Oct 2011 | access-date = 2014-01-15}}

{{cite book | author = Tichy, Herbert | title = Cho Oyu: by favour of the gods

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xWo1AAAAIAAJ

| publisher = Methuen | year = 1957 | page = 195 | access-date = 2016-10-28}}

}}

• {{cite book |last= Hillary |first= Edmund | title= High Adventure

| publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing | year= 1955

| url = http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/high-adventure-9780747566960/ | access-date = 2014-01-15

| isbn= 0-7475-6696-8}}

• Herbert Tichy, Cho Oyu - Gnade der Götter, (Vienna: Ullstein 1955)

{{commons category-inline|Cho Oyu}}

• [http://www.summitpost.org/cho-oyu/150294 Cho Oyu page on Summitpost.org]
• [http://www.himalaya-info.org/cho_oyu_geschichte.htm Cho Oyu page on Himalaya-Info.org (German)]
• {{cite peakware|id=1092|name=Cho Oyu}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120161030/http://www.8000ers.com/cms/content/view/57/188/ Ascents and fatalities statistics]
• [http://lenin-peak.net/ Cho Oyu from Kyrgyzstan]
• [https://www.4dvt.com/cho-oyu-nepal-china.html Birdseye view video]

{{Eight-thousander}}

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Category:Eight-thousanders of the Himalayas

Category:Mountains of Tibet

Category:China–Nepal border

Category:International mountains of Asia

Category:Mountains of Koshi Province