Lhagba La

{{short description|Mountain pass northeast of Mount Everest}}

{{Infobox mountain pass

| name = Lhagba La

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| photo = File:Everest North Col from Lhakpa La, 1921.jpg

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| photo_caption = Everest and North Col as seen from Lhagba La

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| location = northeast of Mount Everest

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| coordinates = {{coord|28|02|30|N|86|57|29|E|region:CN_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}

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Lhagba La or Lhakpa La (meaning "Windy Gap") is a {{convert|6849|m|adj=on}} col about {{convert|7|km}} northeast of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

It was unknown to local inhabitants until it was discovered and named by the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition when reconnoitring a route to climb the mountain.{{cite book|last1=Howard-Bury|first1=Charles|last2=Mallory|first2=George Leigh|editor1-last=Keaney|editor1-first=Marian|title=Everest Reconnaissance : The First Expedition of 1921|date=1991|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|location=London|isbn=0340556021}}{{cite book|last1=Shipton|first1=Eric|title=Man Against Everest|date=1955|publisher=Prentice-Hall|pages=[https://archive.org/details/menagainsteveres007427mbp/page/n25 20]–35|url=https://archive.org/details/menagainsteveres007427mbp|accessdate=15 June 2014|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122211249/https://archive.org/details/menagainsteveres007427mbp|archivedate=22 January 2015}}*{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=W. H.|title=The Story of Everest|date=1953|publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons|pages=31–41}}

Lhagba La is the starting point of the Kharta Glacier which descends eastwards along the valley towards Kharta. The Kharta River is a tributary of the Arun River. On the western side of the col is the East Rongbuk Glacier which flows north from Everest. Lhagba Pool, {{convert|500|m}} below and less than {{convert|1|km}} southwest, was reportedly the second highest lake in the world, but the lake has likely dried up.{{cite web | url=http://www.lexitravels.com/highest-lakes-in-the-world/ | title=The Highest Lakes In The World | date=May 14, 2013 | accessdate=29 August 2013 | author=Johnson, Lexi}}

Expeditions attempting Everest via the North Col generally arrive up the East Rongbuk Glacier and so do not reach Lhagba La at all. However, when George Mallory and Guy Bullock were trying to reach the North Col, the route from Rongbuk was unknown to them. Instead they approached from the east only to find the glacier did not extend to the North Col. The climbing team eventually had to cross the pass and descend some {{convert|1500|ft|disp=flip}} to the East Rongbuk Glacier before ascending to the North Col. Their discovery allowed the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition to take the more direct route from the north.

File:Everest, northern approaches.svg

File:Map of Kharta region, east of Mount Everest.svg

File:Kharta from 1921 map.jpg