International Makalu Expedition autumn 2024

In 1955, French team climbed Mount Makalu for the first time. The British Everest reconnaissance mapped and photographed the peak from the Tibetan Side for the first time in 1921. Hillary and Shipton photographed Mt. Makalu in 1951. After one year, Hillary and others approached the peak after the failure of their mount Cho Oyu expedition. A US team, mostly from California, who trekked all the way from the Indian border near Biratnagar made the first attempt on Mount Makalu in 1954. A British team approached the mountain at the same time but this expedition was abandoned when Hillary became seriously ill and had to be evacuated. A French team attempted the peak once more in the autumn of 1954. Three teams of French climbers made the successful attempt on successive days of spring. The Japanese conquered mount Makalu in 1970, another French team climbed it in 1971 and a Yugoslav expedition step on the summit in 1975.

Makalu ExpeditonMakalu West Face:
Makalu West face is one of the adventurous and challenging trekking. Five attempts had already been made before successfully steeping on the summit of mount Makalu. The West Face was successfully scaled in 1997. The Russian expedition had followed the route of this West Face of mount Makalu, leaded by Sergey Efimov and step on the top on 21st of May following the most difficult route. The last part of the route had gone on Parago ridge. Alexei Bolotov, Yuri Ermachek, Dmitri Pavlenko, Igor Bugachevski and Nikolai Jiline had reached on the top of mount Makalu at this time. They were awarded the "Gold ice-axe" for this ascent.

The Routes (Four Parts):
Bottom part of the route begins from the base of the West Face at an altitude of 5,800 meters and climbs to the hanging ice-fall at 6100 meters height to the right part of the ice-fall. The second part extends from the plateau above the ice-fall along 35 to 45 degree elevation's rock up to the 6,500 meters altitude. The next section is an ice-rock wall, 50 to 55 degrees steep extending up to 7400 meters. The final section begins 70 to 75 degree elevation's rock pillar, leading to the west ridge at 8,000 meters height till atop. Ropes are typically fixed from 5800m to 6100m and from 6500 m to 7500m. There were Camps established by the Russian Team in the following locations. The French Route on the West Pillar is an aesthetically stunning line which is never attempted. It is strenuous with very steep pillar which was first successfully climbed in 1971. The crux of the line comes at approximately 7,600m in the Seignior Wall area. The first US team to climb it was in 1980. They scaled via West Pillar Route. The team included Jim States, John Roskelley, Kim Momb and Chris Kopczynski, who topped the summit even without using oxygen or Sherpa support.