Editing Kangchenjunga (section)

==Climbing history==
[[File:Kanchenjunga summit ca. 1857.jpeg|thumb|Painting of ''Kanchinjínga'' as seen from the [[Singalila Ridge]] by [[Hermann Schlagintweit]], 1855<ref name=Schlagintweit1871/>]]
[[File:Sunset on Kinchenjunga.jpg|thumb|Sunset on Kangchenjunga, 1905<ref name="crowley52"/>]]
[[File:Kangch-Goechala.jpg|thumb|South face of Kangchenjunga seen from [[Goecha La]], Sikkim at {{cvt|4940|m}}]]
[[File:Kangchenjunga From Darjeeling War Memorial.jpg|thumb|Kangchenjunga seen from Darjeeling War Memorial]]
[[File:Kangchenjunga and surrounding peaks at sunset.jpg|thumb|Kangchenjunga and surrounding peaks at sunset from [[ISS]], December 2019]]

===Early reconnaissances and attempts===
* Between April 1848 and February 1849, [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] explored parts of northern Sikkim and eastern Nepal, mainly to collect plants and study the distribution of Himalayan flora. He was based in Darjeeling, and made repeated excursions in the river valleys and into the foothills of Kangchenjunga up to an elevation of {{cvt|15620|ft}}.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hooker, J. D. |year=1854 |title=Himalayan journals; or, Notes of a naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, &c. |url=https://archive.org/stream/himalayanjournal0335hook#page/n9/mode/2up |publisher=John Murray |place=London}}</ref>
* In spring 1855, the [[Germans|German]] explorer [[Hermann von Schlagintweit]] travelled to Darjeeling but was not allowed to proceed further north due to the [[Third Nepal–Tibet War]]. In May, he explored the [[Singalila Ridge]] up to the peak of [[Tonglu, West Bengal|Tonglo]] for a meteorological survey.<ref name=Schlagintweit1871>{{cite book |author=Schlagintweit, H. v. |year=1871 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/reiseninindienu02sakgoog#page/n255/mode/2up |chapter=Die Singhalila Kette zwischen Sikkim und Nepal |title=Reisen in Indien und Hochasien. Eine Darstellung der Landschaft, der Kultur und Sitten der Bewohner, in Verbindung mit klimatischen und geologischen Verhältnissen. Zweiter Band |publisher=Hermann Costenoble |place=Jena}}</ref>
* In 1879, [[Sarat Chandra Das]] and Lama Ugyen-gyatso crossed into Tibet west of "Kanchanjinga" via eastern Nepal and the [[Tashilhunpo Monastery]] en route to [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]]. They returned along the same route in 1881.<ref name=Das1902>{{cite book |author=Das, S. C. |year=1902 |title=A Journey to Lhasa and central Tibet |location=New York, London |publisher=E. P. Dutton & Company, John Murray |url=https://archive.org/stream/journeytolhasace00dass#page/n9/mode/2up}}</ref>
* In 1883, a party of [[William Woodman Graham]] together with two [[Swiss people|Swiss]] mountaineers climbed in the area of Kangchenjunga. They were the first who ascended [[Kabru]] within {{cvt|30|-|40|ft}} below the summit. They crossed the Kang La pass and climbed a peak of nearly {{cvt|19000|ft}} from which they examined Jannu. They concluded it was too late in the year for an attempt and returned once again to Darjeeling.<ref name=Blaser2009>{{cite journal |author1=Blaser, W. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Hughes, G. |year=2009 |title=Kabru 1883. A Reassessment |journal=The Alpine Journal |volume=114 |pages=219–228 |url=http://www.himalaya-info.org/Kabru%20Alpine%20Journal%202010.pdf |access-date=27 February 2013 |archive-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512104810/http://www.himalaya-info.org/Kabru%20Alpine%20Journal%202010.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Between October 1885 and January 1886, Rinzin Namgyal surveyed the unexplored north and west sides of Kangchenjunga. He was the first native surveyor to map the circuit of Kangchenjunga and provided sketches of each side of the peak and the adjoining valleys. He also defined the frontiers of Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim in this area.<ref name=Ward2001>{{cite journal |author=Ward, M. |year=2001 |title=Early Exploration of Kangchenjunga and South Tibet by the pundits Rinzin Namgyal, Sarat Chandra Das and Lama Ugyen Gyatso |journal=The Alpine Journal |volume=106 |pages=191–196 |url=http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2001_files/AJ%202001%20191-196%20Ward%20Kangchenjunga.pdf}}</ref>
* In 1899, British mountaineer Douglas Freshfield set out with his party comprising the Italian photographer [[Vittorio Sella]]. They were the first mountaineers to examine the lower and upper ramparts, and the great western face of Kangchenjunga, rising from the Kangchenjunga Glacier.<ref name="Freshfield1903"/>
* The [[1905 Kanchenjunga Expedition]] was headed by [[Aleister Crowley]] who had been part of the team attempting the 1902 ascent of [[K2]]. The team reached an estimated elevation of {{cvt|6500|m}} on the southwest side of the mountain before turning back. The exact height reached is somewhat unclear; Crowley stated that on 31 August, "We were certainly over {{cvt|21000|ft}} and possibly over {{cvt|22000|ft}}", when the team was forced to retreat to Camp 5 by the risk of avalanche. On 1 September, they evidently went further; some members of the team, Reymond, Pache and Salama, "got over the bad patch" that had forced them to return to Camp 5 the day before, and progressed "out of sight and hearing" before returning to Crowley and the men with packs, who could not cross the dangerous section unassisted with their burdens. It is not clear how far Reymond, Pache and Salama had ascended—but in summarizing, Crowley ventured "We had reached a height of approximately {{cvt|25000|ft}}." Attempting a "mutinous" late-in-the-day descent from Camp 5 to Camp 3, climber Alexis Pache who earlier that day had been one of three to ascend possibly higher than any before, and three local porters, were killed in an avalanche.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Isserman, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Weaver, S. |year=2008 |title=Fallen Giants: a history of Himalayan mountaineering from the age of empire to the age of extremes |location=Devon |publisher=Duke & Company |pages=61–63 |chapter= |chapter-url= |isbn=978-0-300-11501-7}}</ref> Despite the insistence of one of the men that "the demon of Kangchenjunga was propitiated with the sacrifice", Crowley decided the accident and its ramifications made it impossible to continue the expedition.<ref name="crowley52">{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=A. |chapter=Chapter 52 |title=[[The Confessions of Aleister Crowley]] An Autohagiography |year=1979 |place=London; Boston |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |isbn=0-7100-0175-4}}</ref>
* In 1907, two [[Norwegians]] set about climbing ''Jongri'' via the Kabru glacier to the south, an approach apparently rejected by Graham's party. Progress was very slow, partly because of problems with supplies and porters, and presumably also lack of fitness and acclimatisation. However, from a high camp at about {{cvt|22600|ft}} they were eventually able to reach a point {{cvt|50|or|60|ft|m}} below the summit before they were turned back by strong winds.<ref name=Blaser2009/>
* In 1929, German [[Paul Bauer (mountaineer)|Paul Bauer]] led an expedition team that reached {{cvt|7400|m}} on the northeast spur before being turned back by a five-day [[storm]].<ref name=Bauer>Bauer, P. (1955). ''Kangchenjunga Challenge''. William Kimber, London.</ref>
* In May 1929, the American E. F. Farmer left Darjeeling with native porters, crossed the Kang La into Nepal and climbed up towards the ''Talung Saddle''. When his porters refused to go any further, he climbed alone further upwards through drifting mists but did not return.<ref name=Smythe/>
* In 1930, [[Günter Dyhrenfurth]] led an international expedition comprising the German Uli Wieland, [[Austrians|Austrian]] {{Interlanguage link|Erwin Schneider|de|3=Erwin Schneider (Bergsteiger)}} and [[English people|Englishman]] [[Frank Smythe]] who attempted to climb Kangchenjunga. They failed because of poor weather and snow conditions.<ref name=Smythe/>
* In 1931, Paul Bauer led a second German expedition team who attempted the northeast spur before being turned back by bad weather, illnesses and deaths. The team, including [[Peter Aufschnaiter]], retreated after climbing 300 m higher than the 1929 attempt.<ref name=Bauer/>
* In 1954, [[John Kempe]] led a party comprising J. W. Tucker, S. R. Jackson, G. C. Lewis, [[Trevor Braham|T. H. Braham]] and medical officer D. S. Mathews. They explored the upper Yalung glacier with the intention to discover a practicable route to the great ice-shelf that runs across the southwest face of Kangchenjunga.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braham, T. H. |date=1955–1956 |title=Kangchenjunga Reconnaissance, 1954 |journal=The Himalayan Journal |volume=19 |url=http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/kangchenjunga-reconnaissance-1954/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106041509/http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/kangchenjunga-reconnaissance-1954/}}</ref> This reconnaissance led to the route used by the successful 1955 expedition.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braham, T. H. |year=1996 |title=Kangchenjunga: The 1954 Reconnaissance |journal=The Alpine Journal |volume=101 |pages=33–35 |url=http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1996_files/AJ%201996%2033-35%20Braham%20Kangchenjunga.pdf}}.</ref>

===First ascent===
{{main|1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition}}
[[File:Kangchenjunga Sign Board.jpg|thumb|A sign board on the last traversable road to Kangchenjunga]]
[[File:1990 reunion of the Kangchenjunga climbers.jpg|thumb|First ascent reunion of 1990– front (left to right): Neil Mather, John Angelo Jackson, Charles Evans and Joe Brown, and rear (left to right): Tony Streather, Norman Hardie, George Band and Professor John Clegg]]
In 1955, [[Joe Brown (climber)|Joe Brown]] and [[George Band (climber)|George Band]] made the first ascent on 25 May, followed by [[Norman Hardie]] and [[Tony Streather]] on 26 May.<ref name=Kapadia2001>{{cite book |last=Kapadia, H. |year=2001 |title=Across Peaks and Passes in Darjeeling and Sikkim |publisher=Indus Publishing Company |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-8173871269}}</ref> The full team also included John Clegg (team doctor), [[Charles Evans (mountaineer)|Charles Evans]] (team leader), [[John Angelo Jackson]], Neil Mather and Tom Mackinnon.<ref name=Band1955/>
The team first made an attempt on the line which John Kempe's party had reconnoitered the previous year. Because of the difficulties on that line they turned to the Yalung Face, which had first been explored by Aleister Crowley's party in 1905. The route starts on the Yalung Glacier to the southwest of the peak, and climbs the Yalung Face, which is {{cvt|3000|m|-3}} high. The main feature of this face is the "Great Shelf", a large sloping plateau at around {{cvt|7500|m|-2}}, covered by a hanging glacier. The route is almost entirely on snow, [[glacier]] and one [[icefall]]; the summit ridge itself can involve a small amount of travel on rock. The first ascent expedition made six camps above their base camp, two below the Shelf, two on it, and two above it. They started on 18 April, and everyone was back to base camp by 28 May.<ref name=Evans1956>{{cite journal |author1=Evans, C. |author2=Band, G. |title=Kangchenjunga Climbed |journal=The Geographical Journal |year=1956 |volume=122 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.2307/1791469 |jstor=1791469 |bibcode=1956GeogJ.122....1E}}</ref> Other members of this expedition included John Angelo Jackson and Tom Mackinnon.<ref>{{cite news |author=Perrin, J. |year=2005 |title=Obituary: John Jackson. Key climber and trainer of British mountaineers |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=31 October 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/aug/01/guardianobituaries.sport}}</ref>

===Other notable ascents===
[[File:Kangchenjunga 3D.webm|thumb|Kangchenjunga 3D animation]]
* 1973 Yutaka Ageta and Takeo Matsuda of the Japanese expedition summited Kangchenjunga West by climbing the southwestern ridge. Matsuda never returned to camp and his body was never found. The expedition concluded that he had fallen during descent when he was separated from Ageta.<ref name=AJ_1975>{{cite journal |author =Higuchi, H. |journal=Alpine Journal |title=The First Ascent of Yalung Kang |year=1975 |pages=17–27 |url=https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1975_files/AJ%201975%2017-27%20Higuchi%20YKang.pdf |access-date=30 July 2020}}</ref>
* 1977 The second ascent of Kangchenjunga, by an Indian Army team led by [[Colonel Narendra Kumar]]. They completed the northeast spur, the difficult ridge that defeated German expeditions in 1929 and 1931.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=American Alpine Journal |title=Kangchenjunga from the East |author=Kumar, N. |year=1978 |url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197844700/Kanchenjunga-from-the-East |access-date=30 July 2020}}</ref>
* 1978 {{ill|Wojciech Wróż|pl}} and {{ill|Eugeniusz Chrobak|pl}} made the first successful ascents of the summits [[Kangchenjunga South]] on 19 May; and Wojciech Brański, [[Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich]], [[Kazimierz Olech]] on 22 May on Kangchenjunga Central.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wróż, W |title=Święta góra Sikkimu. Zapiski z wyprawy na Kangchendzongę Południową |place=Warszawa |publisher=Sport i Turystyka |year=1982 |isbn=83-217-2377-2 |lang=pl |trans-title=Sacred Mountain of Sikkim. Notes from an expedition to Kangchendzonga South}}</ref>
* 1979 The third ascent on 16 May, and the first without oxygen, by [[Doug Scott]], [[Peter Boardman]] and [[Joe Tasker]], establishing a new route on the North Ridge.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Scott |first=D. K. |title=Kangchenjunga from the North |journal=American Alpine Journal |volume=22 |issue=53 |pages=437–444 |year=1980 |url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198043700/Kangchenjunga-from-the-North}}</ref>
* 1985 The first winter attempt, by a team of three led by the American Chris Chandler, from the north side. Chandler died on the unsuccessful attempt.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Asia, Nepal, Kangchenjunga Tragedy |journal=American Alpine Journal |date=1985 |volume=27 |issue=59 |pages=250–251 |url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198525002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Living on the Edge: The Winter Ascent of Kanchenjunga |date=1987|first=C. |last=Bremer-Kamp |isbn=9780715390030 |publisher=David & Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RuCAAAAMAAJ&q=9780715390030}}</ref>
* 1986 The first ascent in winter, by Jerzy Kukuczka and Krzysztof Wielicki on 11 January 1986, they followed the route from the SW which was pioneered during the original first ascent.<ref name=KW-hj>{{cite journal |title=Kangchenjunga climbed in winter |journal=Himalayan Journal|date=1987|first=A. | last=Machnik |volume=43 |pages=7–9 |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/43/3/kangchenjunga-climbed-in-winter/}}</ref><ref name=KW-jk>{{cite book |title=My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks |date=1992 |first=J. |last=Kukuczka |isbn=0340534850 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3ATAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>
* 1992 [[Carlos Carsolio]] made the only summit that year. It was in a solo climb without supplementary oxygen.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
* 1995 [[Benoît Chamoux]], [[Pierre Royer]] and their Sherpa guide Riku disappeared on 6 October near the summit.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Braham |first=T. |title=Forty Years after the First Ascent of Kangchenjunga |journal=The Alpine Journal |pages=57–58 |year=1996 |url=https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1996_files/AJ%201996%2057-58%20Braham%20Kangchenjunga.pdf}}</ref>
* 1998 [[Ginette Harrison]] was the first woman to climb Kangchenjunga's North Face.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/harrison.htm |title=Ginette Harrison |publisher=Everest History}}</ref>
* 2009 [[Edurne Pasaban]], a Spanish mountaineer, reached the summit, becoming the first woman to summit twelve eight-thousanders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.8000ers.com/cms/content/view/54/193/#tables |title=List of Kangchenjunga ascents |publisher=8000ers.com |date=2008 |access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref>
* In May 2009, [[Kinga Baranowska]] was the first Polish woman to reach the summit of Kangchenjunga.<ref>Mysza (2009). [http://wspinanie.pl/serwis/200905/18kinga-baranowska-kangchenjunga.php ''Kinga Baranowska zdobyła Kangchenjungę''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311025837/http://wspinanie.pl/serwis/200905/18kinga-baranowska-kangchenjunga.php |date=11 March 2013}}. wspinanie.pl, 18 May 2009.</ref>
* In 2011, [[Tunç Fındık]] became the first Turkish man to reach the peak of Kangchenjunga, his seventh eight thousander, with Swiss partner Guntis Brandts via the British 1955 SW Face route.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnnturk.com/2011/yasam/diger/05/20/tunc.findik.zirvede/617339.0/ |title=Tunç Fındık zirvede |publisher=CNN Turk |year=2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theuiaa.org/news-163-Member-spotlight-Freedom-lies-in-the-mountains-for-Turkish-climber-Tunc-Findik.html |author=UIAA |title=Member spotlight: Freedom lies in the mountains for Turkish climber Tunc Findik |publisher=International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation |year=2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008212759/http://www.theuiaa.org/news-163-Member-spotlight-Freedom-lies-in-the-mountains-for-Turkish-climber-Tunc-Findik.html |archive-date=8 October 2014}}</ref>
* In May 2011, Indian mountaineers Basanta Singha Roy and [[Debasish Biswas]] successfully scaled Kangchenjunga Main.<ref>{{cite web |date=2011 |url=http://www.mak.org.in/expeditions.php#22 |title=Expeditions |work=Mountaineers' Association |access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>
* In May 2013, five climbers including Hungarian [[Zsolt Erőss]] and Péter Kiss reached the summit, but disappeared during the descent.<ref>{{cite news |title=5 climbers feared dead on world's 3rd highest peak |date=2013 |work=NBC News |url=http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/24/18472084-5-climbers-feared-dead-on-worlds-3rd-highest-peak?lite |access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref>
* In May 2014, Bulgarian [[Boyan Petrov]] reached the peak without the use of supplemental oxygen.<ref>{{cite news |date=2014 |website=Novinite |url=http://www.novinite.com/articles/160731/Bulgarian+Mountaineer+Boyan+Petrov+Climbs+Kangchenjunga+Summit |title=Bulgarian Mountaineer Boyan Petrov Climbs Kangchenjunga Summit |access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>
* In May 2014, [[Chhanda Gayen]] was the first Indian woman to summit. She was killed by an avalanche on the descent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ace mountaineers from across the country hail Gayen's effort |date=2014 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ace-mountaineers-from-across-the-country-hail-Gayens-effort/articleshow/35497291.cms |access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref>
* In May 2022, Indian Narayanan Iyer died during a summit push on the mountain.<ref>{{cite news |date=2022 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-climber-dies-nepal-hiking-official-2022-05-07/ |title=Indian climber dies in Nepal-hiking official |work=Reuters}}</ref>
 
Despite improved climbing gear the fatality rate of climbers attempting to summit Kanchenjunga is high. Since the 1990s, more than 20% of people died while climbing Kanchenjunga's main peak.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hansen, L. |year=2012 |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |title=5 Mountains Deadlier Than Everest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175946/http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref>