Pumori

Pumori
View of Pumori from Everest Base Camp, Khumbu Valley
Highest point
Elevation	7,161 m (23,494 ft)
Prominence	1,278 m (4,193 ft) [1]
Coordinates	28°00′53″N 86°49′41″E / 28.01472°N 86.82806°ECoordinates: 28°00′53″N 86°49′41″E / 28.01472°N 86.82806°E
Geography
Pumori Location in Nepal
Location	Nepal-Tibet
Parent range	Himalayas
Climbing
First ascent	1962 by Gerhard Lenser[2]
Easiest route	snow/ice climb

Pumori (Nepali: पुमोरि) (or Pumo Ri) is a mountain on the Nepal-Tibet border in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Pumori lies just eight kilometres west of Mount Everest. Pumori, which means "Unmarried Daughter" in the Sherpa language, was named by George Mallory.^[3] Climbers sometimes refer to Pumori as "Everest's Daughter".

Pumori is a popular climbing peak and the easiest route is graded class 3, although with significant avalanche danger. Pumori was first climbed on May 17, 1962 by Gerhard Lenser on a German-Swiss expedition.^[2] Two Czechs (Leopold Sulovský and Zdeněk Michalec) climbed a new route on the south face in the spring of 1996.^[4]

An outlier of Pumori is Kala Patthar (5,643m/18,513'), which appears as a big brown bump below the impressive south face of Pumori. Many trekkers going to see Mount Everest up close will attempt to climb to the top of Kala Patthar.

Trekking and mountaineering Pumori

The 2015 Everest (it hit Everest BC) avalanche is reported to have started between Pumori (Left) and Lingtren (middle peak)^[5] Khumbutse to the right

Pumori and Lingtren

Pumori

Nearly 500 people had summited Pumori by 2005, at a cost of 42 lives.^[6] It was noted for its increasing popularity by 2008, with such features as being able to use the Everest base camp for Nepal (when its occupied that is) when trekking or climbing Pumori and offering solid views of Tibet, Nepal and Everest.^[6] However, there has been some dangers from avalanches including some Spanish climbing teams that took heavy losses (such as in 1989 and 2001),^[6] and the 2015 avalanche, though it was likely triggered by the 2015 Earthquake, is said to have originated from the Pumori-Lingtren ridge.^[5]

Noted Ascents:

• 1962 FA by Gerhard Lenser of a German-Swiss expedition.
• 1974 West Face new route by Alpine Club Unpo, Japan, summit reached by Minoru Takagi and Nobuyaki Kaneko on Oct 13.^[7]
• 1986 East Face new route by Hiroshi Aota and Yoshiki Sasahara (Japan) over three days, summiting on December 3.^[8]
• 1986 1985 Catalan Route on East Face, solo by Todd Bibler, summit reached December 5.^[9]
• 2002 Three women (Leila Bahrami, Mitra Nazari, and Farhondeh) from an Iranian expedition reached the summit on October 20 via the southeast face to the east ridge. The Sherpas twice stopped opening the route to the team as they did not expect the women to manage the difficulties.^[10]

Ski attempts

• 2013 Seb de Sainte Marie and Paul Holding unsuccessfully attempted to climb and ski the West Face.^[11]

Accidents

• In 1989 a team of four Spanish climbers were killed in an avalanche on Pumori, and again in September 2001 another Spanish team was killed in an avalanche.^[6]
• On 19 October 2002, five Basque mountaineers were swept 600–800 metres down the southeast face by an avalanche caused by a seracs fall above them.^[10]
• On 25 April 2015 a 7.8 M_W earthquake struck Nepal and triggered several avalanches on and around Mount Everest, including one that hit Everest Base Camp. A witness described it as "a huge avalanche coming off Pumori".^[12] The avalanche traveled through part of the Khumbu Icefall and into the South Base Camp.^[13] At least 19 are known dead.^[14]

Pumori (aka Pumo Ri) as seen from Kala Patar

References

1. "Pumori, China/Nepal". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2012-01-22. The prominence value given here of 1,278 m is based on elevation of 7,138 m.
2. "Asia, Nepal, Jannu". Climbs and Expeditions. American Alpine Journal (New York: American Alpine Club) 13 (2): 517. 1963. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
3. Parekh, Navnit. Himalayan Memoirs. India: Popular Prakashan. p. 37. ISBN 9780861321261. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
4. Simpson, Joe (1999). Dark Shadows Falling. Mountaineers Books. ISBN 9780898865905.
5. Everest: List of Avalanche Victims
6. The new Cho Oyu: Pumori
7. Fujita, Hiroshi (1975). "Asia, Nepal, Pumori, West Face". Climbs and Expeditions. American Alpine Journal (New York: American Alpine Club) 20 (49): 198. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
8. Cheney, Michael (1987). "Asia, Nepal, Pumori Winter Ascent via East Face". Climbs and Expeditions. American Alpine Journal (New York: American Alpine Club) 29 (61): 238. ISBN 0-930410-29-7. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
9. Bibler, Todd (1987). "Asia, Nepal, Pumori Winter Ascent". Climbs and Expeditions. American Alpine Journal (New York: American Alpine Club) 29 (61): 238. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
10. Hawley, Elizabeth (1987). "Asia, Nepal, Khumbu Himal, Pumori, Ascent, Attempt, Tragedy". Climbs and Expeditions. American Alpine Journal (New York: American Alpine Club) 44 (76): 409. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
11. "West Face of Pumori". paulholding.com. 5 Oct 2013. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
12. "Everest Base Camp a ‘War Zone’ After Earthquake Triggers Avalanches". National Geographic. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
13. "10 confirmed dead in Mount Everest avalanche, but toll expected to rise". The Washington Post. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
14. "Indian Army's expedition team rescues 61 climbers from Mount Everest". DNA India. Retrieved 30 April 2015.