Dhaulagiri

Dhaulagiri (धौलागिरी) is the seventh highest mountain in the world. It forms the eastern anchor of the Dhaulagiri Himal, a subrange of the Himalaya in the Dhawalagiri Zone of north central Nepal. It lies northwest of Pokhara, an important regional town and tourist center. Across the deep gorge of the Kali Gandaki to the east lies the Annapurna Himal, home to Annapurna I, one of the other eight-thousanders. Dhaulagiri means "White Mountain".

Notable Features

After its discovery in 1808 by the western world, Dhaulagiri was thought to be the highest mountain in the world. This lasted for 30 years before Dhaulagiri's place was taken by Kangchenjunga.

In terms of rise above local terrain, Dhaulagiri is, in fact, almost unparalleled in the world. For example, it rises 7000m over the Kali Gandaki gorge to the southeast in about 30km of horizontal distance. The Kali Gandaki is especially dramatic since Dhaulagiri and Annapurna both stand near the river, giving a unique example of two Eight-thousanders facing each other over a deep valley.

The South and West faces of Dhaulagiri both feature massive drops; each rises over 4000 meters from its base, and each has been the site of epic climbs (see the Timeline).

Among the subsidiary peaks in the range, Gurja Himal also boasts a large, precipitous drop on its south face.

Climbing History

Dhaulagiri was first climbed on May 13, 1960 by Kurt Diemberger, Peter Diener, Ernst Forrer, Albin Schelbert, Nyima Dorji and Nawang Dorji, members of a Swiss/Austrian expedition. The expedition leader was Max Eiselin; they used the Northeast Ridge route which had been reconnoitered one year earlier by an Austrian expedition led by Fritz Moravec. This was also the first Himalayan climb supported by a fixed-wing aircraft. The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-6, crashed during the approach and was later abandoned on the mountain.

The vast majority of ascents to date have been via the first ascent route, which is the "Normal Route" on the mountain. However ascents have been made from almost every direction.