Makalu

Makalu

Makalu is an 8,485-meter (27,838-foot) mountain on the border between Nepal and Tibet and the fifth-highest mountain on Earth. Rising southeast of Mount Everest, it is one of the most visually distinctive of the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter peaks, forming an immense four-sided pyramid with sharp ridges and steep faces of snow, ice, and dark rock.

The mountain’s isolation adds to its dramatic appearance. Makalu has approximately 2,378 meters (7,802 feet) of topographic prominence and more than 17 kilometers of isolation. Although it belongs to the same broad Mahalangur Himalayan system as Everest and Lhotse, it stands as a highly independent mountain rather than a subsidiary summit of the Everest massif.

Makalu was first climbed on May 15, 1955, by French mountaineers Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy during an expedition led by Jean Franco. The achievement became famous not merely because the world’s fifth-highest mountain had been climbed, but because nearly the entire climbing team subsequently reached the summit. Jean Franco, Guido Magnone, and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa followed on May 16, while Jean Bouvier, Serge Coupé, Pierre Leroux, and André Vialatte summited on May 17.

The French route through Makalu La and the northwest side became the mountain’s standard line, but later climbers were drawn to much more difficult terrain. Japanese climbers completed the southeast ridge in 1970, a French team climbed the extraordinary West Pillar in 1971, and a Yugoslav expedition made the first ascent of the immense south face in 1975. Jerzy Kukuczka opened a new route solo in 1981, Pierre Béghin climbed a new south-face line largely alone in 1989, Kitty Calhoun became the first woman to summit Makalu in 1990, and a Russian expedition finally climbed the enormous direct west face in 1997.

One major milestone remained remarkably late in coming. After numerous attempts and the disappearance of Jean-Christophe Lafaille during a winter attempt in 2006, Simone Moro and Denis Urubko completed the first winter ascent on February 9, 2009.

Makalu now has an established expedition route, but it remains among the more technically demanding 8,000-meter mountains. Its steep summit pyramid, high winds, exposed ridges, complicated glacier terrain, avalanches, rockfall, and extreme altitude ensure that even the standard route is a serious Himalayan undertaking.

⚡ Fast Facts

Fact	Details
Continent	Asia
Countries	Nepal and China
Nepal Province	Koshi Province
Nepal District	Sankhuwasabha
China Region	Tibet Autonomous Region
Mountain Range	The Himalayas
Subrange	Mahalangur Himal
Elevation	8,485 m / 27,838 ft
Historical Elevations	Commonly 8,463–8,481 m
World Ranking	5th-highest mountain
Prominence	Approximately 2,378 m / 7,802 ft
Isolation	Approximately 17.23 km / 10.71 mi
Key Col	Approximately 6,107 m / 20,036 ft
Line Parent	Lhotse
Coordinates	Approximately 27.8893° N, 87.0886° E
Peak Classification	Eight-thousander and ultra-prominent mountain
First Attempt	1954 California Himalayan Expedition
First Ascent	May 15, 1955
First Ascenders	Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy
Expedition Leader	Jean Franco
First-Ascent Route	Makalu La, north side, northwest ridge
Southeast Ridge First Ascent	May 23, 1970
West Pillar First Ascent	May 23, 1971
South-Face First Ascent	October 1975
First Women’s Ascent	May 18, 1990
First Woman	Kitty Calhoun
First Winter Ascent	February 9, 2009
First Winter Ascenders	Simone Moro and Denis Urubko
First Ski Descent	May 9, 2022, Adrian Ballinger
Protected Area	Makalu Barun National Park
Terrain	Glacier, steep snow and ice, technical rock, seracs, mixed climbing, and exposed summit ridge

🏔️ Where Is Makalu?

Makalu rises on the Nepal–Tibet border in the eastern Himalayas, roughly 20 kilometers southeast of the Everest region. Its Nepalese slopes fall into Sankhuwasabha District and the extraordinary landscape of Makalu Barun National Park, while its northern slopes descend into Tibet.

The mountain occupies the eastern portion of the Mahalangur Himal, the same broad Himalayan system containing Mount Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, and numerous major 7,000-meter summits. Despite this concentration of giants, Makalu stands visually apart. Its four great ridges form an unmistakable pyramid that is especially impressive when viewed from the Barun Valley or from high mountains farther west.

Southwest of Makalu lies Chamlang, a 7,000-meter mountain whose climbing history includes several major modern alpine routes. Baruntse rises west of Makalu, while Kangchungtse and Chomo Lonzo form important neighboring summits immediately around its northern side.

The mountain’s remote location contributes greatly to its character. Unlike Everest, Makalu is not surrounded by a dense network of major trekking settlements and commercial expedition infrastructure. Approaching from Nepal still involves traveling through an increasingly wild landscape of deep valleys, forests, alpine meadows, moraines, and glaciers.

Last light on Mt Makalu at 8485m, Himalayas, Nepal. | Srinivas Piratla

📏 How High Is Makalu?

Makalu reaches 8,485 meters (27,838 feet) according to detailed modern topographic mapping. This places it behind only Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, and Lhotse in the global elevation ranking.

Historical sources frequently use different elevations. The French first-ascent expedition worked with a height of roughly 27,790 feet, while later mountaineering literature widely adopted 8,463 meters. Figures around 8,481 meters also appeared on maps and in climbing accounts.

Nepalese tourism and government materials have themselves used both older and newer measurements. The 2025 Mountaineering in Nepal: Facts and Figures publication describes Makalu as 8,485 meters in its text even though some official headings and older listings retain 8,463 meters.

For a modern geographical profile, 8,485 meters is the best-supported figure.

At this elevation, the summit lies almost half a kilometer above the 8,000-meter threshold associated with the physiological death zone, making Makalu one of the five mountains whose summits rise above 8,400 meters.

📐 Prominence and Isolation

Makalu has approximately 2,378 meters (7,802 feet) of clean topographic prominence. Its key col lies at about 6,107 meters (20,036 feet) on the high connecting terrain toward the Everest–Lhotse mountain system.

Any mountain with at least 1,500 meters of prominence qualifies as an ultra-prominent peak, so Makalu exceeds that standard comfortably.

Its topographic isolation is approximately 17.23 kilometers (10.71 miles). Higher terrain is eventually encountered toward the Everest–Lhotse massif, with Lhotse serving as Makalu’s line parent in detailed prominence mapping.

Makalu’s combination of extraordinary elevation and substantial prominence makes it one of the great independent mountains of Asia. It may stand relatively close to Everest on a map, but geographically and visually it possesses a powerful identity of its own.

🖤 What Does Makalu Mean?

The precise origin of the name Makalu is not completely certain, and several explanations have circulated.

One widely repeated interpretation derives it from the Sanskrit Mahākāla, an important name associated with Shiva and a term that can carry meanings connected with great time, great darkness, or the Great Black One. Because Makalu’s steep rocky walls can appear unusually dark when snow cover is thin or when they fall into shadow, the popular translation “Great Black” has become closely associated with the mountain.

Other historical explanations connect the modern name with local Tibetan geography, and older surveyors used names such as Khamba Lung.

Because the etymology is uncertain, it is best to treat “Great Black” as a traditional and plausible interpretation rather than an indisputably documented literal translation.

Mt. Everest (8848 m), Lhotse (8516 m) and Makalu (8481 m) from the Renjo Pass on a sunny day – Gokyo region, Nepal, Himalayas

🔺 Makalu’s Great Pyramid

Makalu is often described as one of the most aesthetically perfect mountains in the Himalayas. Its summit is supported by several sharp ridges that form an enormous pyramid visible from many directions.

This architecture creates a very different appearance from the sprawling multiple summits of Kangchenjunga or the long walls of Nuptse. Makalu looks more like an immense individual fortress.

Its west side contains the famous West Pillar, one of the most technically celebrated ridges ever climbed on an 8,000-meter mountain. The southern side rises in an enormous wall more than 2,500 meters high. The southeast ridge sweeps upward from the Nepalese side, while the northern terrain connects through Makalu La toward Kangchungtse.

High on the mountain, all these great features converge into a surprisingly technical summit pyramid. Even climbers who have negotiated kilometers of snow and glacier below must still deal with rock, steep ice, exposed towers, and narrow ridges near 8,500 meters.

🏔️ Kangchungtse — Makalu II

Immediately north-northwest of Makalu stands Kangchungtse, traditionally known as Makalu II.

Modern mapping gives it an elevation of approximately 7,678 meters. It is connected to Makalu through the high saddle known as Makalu La, which lies above 7,400 meters.

Kangchungtse played a crucial role in the exploration of Makalu. During the French reconnaissance expedition of autumn 1954, climbers made its first ascent while studying the route that would be used on Makalu the following spring.

The expedition demonstrated that access through Makalu La was feasible, providing the French with invaluable experience before their main summit attempt.

Although Kangchungtse is vastly overshadowed by 8,485-meter Makalu, it would be considered an enormous Himalayan mountain in almost any other location.

🏔️ Chomo Lonzo

Chomo Lonzo rises north-northeast of Makalu on the Tibetan side and reaches approximately 7,790 meters in modern mapping.

The mountain is connected to the broader Makalu group through high saddles but has substantial enough prominence to rank as an important summit in its own right.

Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy climbed Chomo Lonzo during the 1954 French reconnaissance, giving them valuable high-altitude experience immediately before the successful Makalu expedition the next spring.

From Nepal, Chomo Lonzo is largely hidden behind Makalu. From Tibet, however, it appears as an impressive independent mountain with steep northeastern faces.

The unusual arrangement of Makalu, Kangchungtse, and Chomo Lonzo creates one of the highest continuous mountain landscapes anywhere in the Himalayas.

📜 Early Exploration

Makalu was observed by early Everest expeditions from Tibet long before anyone attempted to climb it. George Mallory saw the mountain during the 1921 Everest reconnaissance and was deeply impressed by its steep, imposing architecture.

The Barun Valley remained much less well understood. Eric Shipton, Charles Evans, Edmund Hillary, and George Lowe traveled through parts of the region during exploration associated with Everest in the early 1950s, but no serious climbing attempt was made on Makalu itself.

By the time Everest was first climbed in 1953, Makalu had become one of the great remaining 8,000-meter objectives.

An American team from California received permission for the mountain in 1954.

Their attempt became the first organized effort to climb Makalu.

Beautiful lake with Makalu peak background, Kongma la pass, Everest region, Nepal

🇺🇸 The First Attempt — 1954

The California Himalayan Expedition was led by physicist William Siri and included Allen Steck, Willi Unsoeld, William Dunmire, Richard Houston, William Long, Fritz Lippmann, Bruce Meyer, Nello Pace, and Lawrence Swan.

The team approached through the Barun Valley and established Base Camp around 4,700 meters.

After studying Makalu’s ridges, the climbers selected the southeast ridge. The west ridge appeared prohibitively steep, while the eastern side was too long and inaccessible for the resources available.

The team established camps progressively higher along the southeast approach. By late April, climbers had reached the high col beneath the ridge and begun exploring the upper route.

Then the weather deteriorated.

Snow, violent winds, illness, and approaching monsoon conditions repeatedly stopped progress.

The Americans eventually reached roughly 7,000–7,100 meters before abandoning the climb.

Makalu remained unclimbed, but its first serious route had been established.

🇳🇿 Hillary in the Barun Valley

A New Zealand expedition led by Edmund Hillary was exploring the Makalu and Barun region at roughly the same time.

The group included George Lowe, Charles Evans, Norman Hardie, and other climbers who conducted extensive surveying and made first ascents of several surrounding mountains.

An accident dramatically changed the expedition when Jim McFarlane fell into a crevasse and suffered severe frostbite. Hillary and others helped organize the rescue, and McFarlane eventually survived but lost portions of his fingers and feet.

The New Zealanders also reconnoitered Makalu’s northern side to approximately 7,000 meters before Hillary became ill and the effort was abandoned.

Although neither the Americans nor New Zealanders climbed Makalu in 1954, their exploration substantially improved knowledge of the surrounding region.

🇫🇷 The 1954 French Reconnaissance

France entered the story in autumn 1954.

The expedition was led by Jean Franco, who assembled an exceptionally strong group including Lionel Terray, Jean Couzy, Guido Magnone, Jean Bouvier, Pierre Leroux, and other accomplished climbers.

The post-monsoon conditions were miserable. Heavy weather affected the approach through the Barun Valley, and two Nepalese porters drowned during a difficult river crossing.

Despite the weather, the French began exploring the northern side of Makalu.

Their main objective was not yet the highest summit. The autumn expedition was intended primarily to understand the mountain before a full-scale spring attempt.

That strategy worked exceptionally well.

🏆 Kangchungtse and Chomo Lonzo

On October 22, 1954, members of the French expedition completed the first ascent of Kangchungtse, or Makalu II.

The team also climbed Chomo Lonzo during the reconnaissance period.

These ascents gave the French an unusually detailed understanding of the high terrain immediately north of Makalu.

Most importantly, they established that Makalu La could provide access to the main mountain.

By the time the climbers left Nepal, they already had a clear plan for the following spring.

Instead of arriving at an unknown mountain and spending weeks searching for a route, the 1955 expedition would begin with a carefully developed strategy.

This preparation helps explain the extraordinary success that followed.

🇫🇷 The 1955 French Expedition

Jean Franco returned in spring 1955 with a powerful and exceptionally well-organized team.

The expedition brought roughly 11 tons of supplies toward Base Camp and used substantial quantities of fixed rope and supplemental oxygen on the upper mountain.

Before committing to the summit, the climbers spent approximately a month acclimatizing between 16,000 and 20,000 feet.

This patience proved important. When the team finally moved upward, it was physically prepared and understood the route.

The climbers established a series of camps toward Makalu La. The section between Camps IV and V involved a difficult rock spur requiring roughly 1,350 feet of fixed rope.

Camp V was established at Makalu La on May 9.

The summit was now within reach, but significant terrain remained.

🧊 Across the North Side

From Makalu La, the route crossed the mountain’s northern slopes rather than climbing directly up a single ridge.

The climbers traversed relatively gentle high-altitude terrain toward a broad couloir beneath the final summit ridge. Several threatening seracs had to be negotiated, but snow conditions were unusually favorable.

Camp VI was established at approximately 7,800 meters.

The summit lay only around 700 vertical meters above them.

At lower elevations that distance might be covered quickly. Near 8,000 meters, it represented many hours of exhausting climbing.

Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy formed the first summit pair.

They left Camp VI on May 15.

🧗 The Final Pyramid

Terray and Couzy climbed approximately 300 meters relatively quickly on firm wind-packed snow.

Higher up, the obvious ridge proved heavily corniced, so they chose a different line.

The climbers traversed toward steep rock and forced their way onto the northwest summit ridge.

The terrain became much more technical than the broad snow slopes below.

Makalu’s highest section is not simply an easy snow dome. Steep rock, ice, and exposed ridges guard the summit.

Terray and Couzy worked their way along this terrain until they approached the final point.

The summit itself was surprisingly small — a narrow snow pinnacle perched at nearly 8,500 meters.

View of mount Makalu (8463 m) from Kongma La pass on the way to Everest base camp, three passes trek, Everest area, Sagarmatha National Park, Khumbu valley, Nepal

🏆 First Ascent — May 15, 1955

Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy reached the summit of Makalu on May 15, 1955.

Their ascent completed the first climb of the world’s fifth-highest mountain.

Terray was already one of the great figures of postwar mountaineering. He had played a crucial role in the 1950 French ascent of Annapurna, helping Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal survive their catastrophic descent after the first ascent of an 8,000-meter mountain.

Five years later, Terray finally stood on an 8,000-meter summit himself.

Jean Couzy was among France’s strongest technical climbers and had participated in the previous autumn’s reconnaissance.

Their summit was impressive, but the expedition was about to achieve something even more unusual.

🏆 Three Days of Summit Success

On May 16, expedition leader Jean Franco, Guido Magnone, and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa reached the summit.

The following day, Jean Bouvier, Serge Coupé, Pierre Leroux, and André Vialatte also reached the top.

In only three days, nine members of the expedition had stood on Makalu’s summit.

This was extraordinary for the era. Early expeditions to the highest mountains generally concentrated all of their resources on putting one or two climbers on top. Many supporting climbers never had an opportunity to make a summit attempt.

Makalu was different. Favorable weather, careful acclimatization, strong teamwork, and excellent organization allowed almost the entire climbing team to summit.

The achievement became one of the most complete successes of the golden age of Himalayan first ascents.

🇯🇵 Southeast Ridge — 1970

The southeast ridge first explored by the Americans in 1954 remained unfinished for another sixteen years.

A Japanese expedition returned to the route in 1970.

The team worked through the complicated lower terrain and continued onto the long ridge toward the summit pyramid.

On May 23, Yuichi Ozaki and Hajime Tanaka reached Makalu’s summit.

Their climb completed the first ascent of the southeast ridge and provided the mountain’s first major new route.

The ascent represented an important transition in Makalu’s history. The easiest-known geographical solution had already been climbed in 1955. Future expeditions were increasingly interested in the mountain’s enormous technical challenges rather than simply finding another way to the summit.

The most spectacular of those challenges stood on the west.

🧱 The West Pillar

Makalu’s West Pillar is one of the most striking high-altitude ridges in the world.

It rises almost directly from the glacier for roughly 3,000 vertical meters and is interrupted by huge rock barriers at elevations where even simple movement becomes exhausting.

French climber Robert Paragot had dreamed about the line since seeing Makalu in 1959.

By the early 1970s, advances in big-wall climbing techniques and equipment made an attempt conceivable.

Paragot organized an exceptionally strong French expedition for 1971. The team included Bernard Mellet, Yannick Seigneur, Lucien Bérardini, François Guillot, Jean-Paul Paris, Georges Payot, Claude Jager, and others.

Even with such a powerful team, the pillar proved extraordinarily difficult.

🧗 The Great Rock Barrier

The lower pillar involved steep mixed climbing before the climbers reached the route’s most serious obstacle.

Between approximately 7,350 and 7,700 meters stood a nearly vertical rock step.

The climbing reached approximately UIAA V+ and A2, extraordinary difficulty for those elevations in 1971.

The French fixed ropes through the barrier and even used specially prepared platforms because natural camp sites were almost nonexistent.

Progress was extremely slow. Climbers spent days solving only a few hundred vertical meters.

Oxygen equipment was eventually used on the highest sections, although cold repeatedly interfered with the systems.

By May 23, Bernard Mellet and Yannick Seigneur were positioned for the final attempt.

🏆 West Pillar — May 23, 1971

Bernard Mellet and Yannick Seigneur left their highest camp at approximately two in the morning.

The pair climbed the final section of the pillar and joined the upper summit terrain.

After roughly fourteen hours of climbing, they reached Makalu’s summit at approximately 4:15 p.m.

They returned to their high camp that night.

The West Pillar was immediately recognized as a major step forward in high-altitude technical mountaineering. Difficult rock climbing had now been carried well above 7,500 meters on one of the world’s five highest mountains.

The route became a Himalayan classic.

It would not receive a second ascent until 1980, when Americans returned with a dramatically smaller team and far less equipment.

🇺🇸 Four Against Makalu — 1980

American climbers John Roskelley, Chris Kopczynski, James States, and Kim Momb attempted the West Pillar in 1980.

Their philosophy was deliberately different from the 1971 French expedition.

Instead of hundreds of porters, extensive high-altitude Sherpa support, and bottled oxygen, the Americans formed a team of only four climbers. They used no supplemental oxygen and no Sherpa support above Base Camp.

The technical terrain remained exactly as formidable.

The climbers moved through mixed ground, the Terrible Traverse, steep rock bands, and the enormous upper barrier.

Eventually Roskelley continued alone from high on the route.

He reached the summit on May 15, 1980, completing the second ascent of the West Pillar in a far lighter style.

The achievement became another important milestone in the movement toward smaller Himalayan expeditions.

🧱 The South Face

If the West Pillar is Makalu’s great ridge, the south face is its great wall.

The face rises roughly 2,500–3,000 vertical meters above the glacier and is composed of huge ice slopes, rock bands, hanging ice, mixed terrain, and avalanche channels.

Yugoslav climbers began systematically exploring the wall in the early 1970s.

Their 1972 expedition climbed extraordinarily high, reaching beyond 8,000 meters but failing to complete the final section to the summit. It was nevertheless one of the most important technical Himalayan attempts of its era.

Other teams followed. Austrian climbers including Reinhold Messner attempted the wall in 1975 but were stopped around 7,500 meters by persistent bad weather.

The Yugoslavs returned later that year determined to finish what they had started.

🇾🇺 The South Face — 1975

The 1975 Yugoslav expedition was led by Aleš Kunaver and included many of the strongest climbers from what would later become Slovenia.

The team had one enormous advantage: experience from the 1972 attempt.

They already understood much of the wall’s structure and could concentrate on solving the upper difficulties.

The route demanded a large expedition effort, with multiple high camps and extensive fixed ropes. Icefall, steep rock, snowfields, and dangerous falling ice complicated the lower and middle sections.

By early October, climbers had established a high camp around 8,050 meters.

The summit was finally within reach.

🏆 First South-Face Ascent

On October 6, 1975, Stane Belak and Marjan Manfreda became the first climbers from the expedition to reach Makalu’s summit.

Manfreda completed the ascent without supplemental oxygen, an exceptional achievement for the period.

Other members followed over the next several days. Nejc Zaplotnik and Janko Ažman, Viki Grošelj and Ivč Kotnik, and Janez Dovžan also reached the summit.

Seven members of the expedition had climbed Makalu by the new south-face route.

The ascent became the first successful 8,000-meter summit for Yugoslav mountaineering and established the country’s climbers among the world’s leading Himalayan technical teams.

At the time, the south-face route was regarded as one of the hardest large mountain walls ever climbed.

🧗 Jerzy Kukuczka — 1981

Polish mountaineer Jerzy Kukuczka came to Makalu in 1981 and attempted the mountain with an exceptionally lightweight approach.

Kukuczka was emerging as one of the greatest Himalayan climbers of his generation. Rather than repeat an existing route exactly, he explored new terrain on the northwest side.

On October 15, he reached Makalu’s summit solo, in alpine style, and without supplemental oxygen, following a new route through the northwestern side and upper north ridge.

The ascent became one of the important early milestones in Kukuczka’s eventual completion of all fourteen 8,000-meter mountains.

His Makalu climb also demonstrated how radically Himalayan tactics were changing. Only ten years earlier, the West Pillar had required a massive French expedition. Now individual climbers were beginning to move alone through new terrain on the world’s highest peaks.

🧱 The Direct South Face — 1989

French climber Pierre Béghin arrived at Makalu’s south face in autumn 1989 with Michel Cadot and Alain Ghersen.

The team hoped to establish a more direct route through the huge wall.

After some initial preparation, Béghin continued largely alone through the decisive upper section.

The wall was constantly threatened by falling ice. Sunlight destabilized hanging formations each morning, producing periods when sections of the route were subjected to intense ice bombardment.

Béghin nevertheless continued upward, eventually joining portions of the 1975 Yugoslav route high on the mountain.

On October 6, 1989, he reached Makalu’s summit.

The descent nearly killed him. Béghin was caught in an avalanche and swept hundreds of meters before miraculously surviving.

He later described the climb as the most difficult and uncertain mountain experience of his career.

👩 Kitty Calhoun — 1990

Makalu remained without a female ascent until 1990.

American climber Kitty Calhoun, then Kitty Calhoun Grissom, organized an expedition to attempt the technically difficult West Pillar.

The team included John Schutt, Mark Houston, Kathy Cosley, John Culberson, and Colin Grissom.

Their objective was unusually ambitious for a first women’s ascent of an 8,000-meter peak. Rather than choosing the normal route, Calhoun deliberately targeted one of Makalu’s classic hard routes.

The team spent weeks carrying loads, fixing difficult sections, and climbing through steep mixed terrain and rock bands.

By mid-May, Calhoun and Schutt were established at approximately 7,770 meters and prepared for the summit.

🏆 First Women’s Ascent — May 18, 1990

Kitty Calhoun and John Schutt left their highest camp shortly after 1 a.m. on May 18.

They climbed through snow and worsening visibility before reaching the junction with the upper ridge.

Strong winds threatened the attempt, while Calhoun began losing feeling in her feet.

Conditions improved enough for them to continue.

The pair eventually climbed the final technical summit terrain and reached Makalu’s highest point.

Calhoun became the first woman to climb Makalu.

She also completed the ascent without supplemental oxygen and by one of the mountain’s most demanding established routes.

The achievement remains one of the major landmarks in women’s high-altitude technical mountaineering.

🧱 The West Face

Makalu’s broad west face remained an enormous unsolved problem even after the West Pillar had been climbed.

The distinction is important. The West Pillar follows the prominent edge of the wall, while a direct west-face route requires climbing through the huge granite and ice systems occupying the center of the mountain.

Attempts began in 1977.

Teams from several countries spent the next two decades searching for a line. Rockfall, avalanches, altitude illness, difficult hanging glaciers, blank rock, and storms repeatedly stopped progress.

Jerzy Kukuczka opened a line along the left side of the face in 1981 before gaining the northwest ridge. Polish climbers established another variation in 1982, and other attempts followed.

The central west face itself continued to resist.

🇷🇺 The Russian West Face — 1997

A large Russian expedition returned to Makalu in 1997 with the specific objective of solving the west face.

The team had prepared through a series of previous Himalayan expeditions and had studied the wall extensively from nearby Baruntse.

They attacked the enormous face with fixed ropes and a large group of strong climbers.

The route required sustained technical climbing through rock and ice at extreme altitude.

Several members eventually gained the upper mountain and reached the summit.

The successful summit group included Alexei Bolotov, Yuri Ermachek, Dmitri Pavlenko, Igor Bugachevski, and Nikolai Zhilin.

Their climb completed the long-awaited first ascent of the main west face.

🏅 Piolet d’Or

The 1997 Russian ascent received the Piolet d’Or, one of international mountaineering’s most prestigious awards.

The route had required solving more than 3,000 meters of highly technical terrain.

Its success came after approximately two decades of unsuccessful international attempts.

The climb was also marked by tragedy. Expedition members suffered fatalities during the broader effort and descent period, another reminder that success on Makalu’s great faces can come at an enormous cost.

Even today, the west face remains far removed from ordinary expedition climbing. The standard northwest route may receive guided teams, but Makalu’s great walls continue to belong almost entirely to elite technical mountaineering.

❄️ The Winter Problem

Makalu proved remarkably resistant to winter climbing.

The first winter attempts began around 1980, during the period when Polish climbers and their international contemporaries were beginning to systematically climb the 8,000-meter mountains in the coldest season.

Attempt after attempt failed.

Teams included strong climbers such as Krzysztof Wielicki, Reinhold Messner, Hans Kammerlander, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, Nives Meroi, Romano Benet, and others.

The mountain’s exposure made winter particularly severe. Temperatures plunged toward -40°C, while powerful winds swept the upper slopes.

One of the most tragic attempts occurred in 2006.

🕯️ Jean-Christophe Lafaille

French climber Jean-Christophe Lafaille arrived alone for a winter attempt on Makalu during the 2005–2006 season.

Lafaille was one of the world’s leading high-altitude alpinists and had already completed extraordinary climbs on Annapurna and other major Himalayan mountains.

He intended to climb Makalu without bottled oxygen and largely alone.

In late January 2006, Lafaille climbed high on the mountain and was last known to be moving toward the summit.

He then disappeared.

No confirmed trace established exactly what happened.

His death became one of the most mysterious tragedies in modern Himalayan mountaineering and reinforced the formidable reputation of Makalu in winter.

🏆 First Winter Ascent — February 9, 2009

Three years later, Simone Moro and Denis Urubko returned to Makalu.

Both were already among the strongest winter and high-altitude climbers of their generation.

They acclimatized through a series of climbs reaching approximately 7,350 meters before waiting for a suitable weather window.

On February 7, 2009, Moro and Urubko left Advanced Base Camp.

They bivouacked around 6,900 meters and then at approximately 7,650 meters.

On February 9, the two reached Makalu’s 8,485-meter summit.

They had completed the first winter ascent of Makalu.

It was the final Nepalese 8,000-meter mountain to receive a winter ascent.

🌬️ Winter at 8,485 Meters

Moro later described temperatures near -40°C during the climb.

Wind was one of the greatest problems. On a mountain already famous for exposed ridges and harsh weather during ordinary expedition seasons, winter conditions can become overwhelming.

Moro and Urubko climbed the northwest route without relying on a massive expedition structure.

Their ascent demonstrated not only physical endurance but also the accumulated experience developed through decades of winter Himalayan climbing.

By 2009, mountaineers understood far more about acclimatization, clothing, nutrition, forecasting, and lightweight movement than the first winter teams of the early 1980s had possessed.

Makalu nevertheless required nearly thirty years of winter attempts before allowing a successful summit.

🎿 First Ski Descent — 2022

Makalu reached another unusual milestone in 2022, when American climber and ski mountaineer Adrian Ballinger completed the mountain’s first broadly recognized ski descent.

Ballinger reached the summit on May 9, 2022, with Dorji Sonam Sherpa and Pasang Sona Sherpa.

Because the immediate summit ridge was too technical and crowded for safe skiing, he downclimbed approximately 15 meters before putting on his skis.

He then descended large portions of the normal route.

Several rock bands required rappelling, and hard blue ice forced Ballinger to use fixed ropes at times for security.

He ultimately skied to approximately 5,900 meters, completing around 2,570 vertical meters of descent.

The effort illustrated how serious the normal route becomes when approached not simply as a climb but as a continuous ski line.

🧊 The Normal Route

Makalu’s modern standard route follows essentially the solution discovered by the French expedition.

Climbers approach from the Barun Valley, establish Base Camp, and move onto the glacier systems leading toward Makalu La.

Several camps are normally established as the route climbs through crevassed terrain, steep snow and ice, and the high northwest side.

The upper route eventually joins the French Couloir and summit ridge.

Unlike Cho Oyu’s broad upper plateau, Makalu retains technical climbing very close to the summit. Rock bands and steep mixed sections around 8,000 meters can create bottlenecks and require fixed ropes.

This final technical character is one reason Makalu is commonly regarded as more demanding than several other 8,000-meter normal routes.

⚠️ Why Makalu Is Difficult

Makalu’s challenge comes from a combination of factors rather than any single obstacle.

The approach is remote, and expeditions begin with a long journey through the Barun region. The glacier route contains crevasses and seracs, while heavy snowfall can create serious avalanche conditions.

Higher on the mountain, the terrain steepens substantially.

The final summit pyramid includes rock and mixed climbing at extreme altitude, meaning climbers cannot simply follow broad snow slopes to the top.

Wind is another major problem. Makalu’s isolated pyramid is highly exposed, and severe winds can force climbers to abandon summit attempts even during otherwise stable weather.

None of this includes the ordinary physiological problems associated with climbing more than eight kilometers above sea level.

🫁 The Death Zone

Makalu rises nearly 500 meters above the 8,000-meter death-zone threshold.

Atmospheric oxygen pressure at the summit is only a fraction of that at sea level, and no human can fully acclimatize to such conditions.

Climbers progressively lose strength while remaining at extreme altitude. Eating becomes difficult, dehydration develops easily, sleep is poor, and minor problems can become serious emergencies.

Reduced oxygen also affects judgment and coordination.

Makalu’s technical summit terrain makes these neurological effects especially dangerous. A climber who has successfully walked through broad snowfields must still make accurate movements on rock, ice, and exposed ridges at elevations where thinking itself becomes slower.

Supplemental oxygen reduces some physiological strain but cannot make the environment safe.

Evening sunset view on top of mount Makalu, Nepal Himalayas | Daniel Prudek

🌦️ Climate and Weather

Makalu lies in eastern Nepal, a region strongly influenced by the South Asian monsoon.

More than 70 percent of annual precipitation in Makalu Barun National Park falls during the monsoon period between June and September.

The lower Barun Valley can receive heavy rain while enormous quantities of snow accumulate higher on the mountain.

Spring is the principal modern expedition season, generally allowing climbers to operate before the summer monsoon arrives. Autumn offers another potential climbing period after the rains decline, and several historically important technical ascents were completed during the post-monsoon season.

Winter is much colder and windier. Makalu’s decades-long resistance to winter ascent demonstrates how radically the mountain changes outside the normal expedition seasons.

🧊 Glaciers and Terrain

The Barun Glacier forms one of the defining features of Makalu’s Nepalese side.

Early expeditions used it as the gateway toward the mountain, and modern climbers still travel through the upper Barun region on their approach.

Higher up, glacier systems become increasingly broken by crevasses and seracs. Snow bridges can hide deep openings, while warming temperatures may destabilize ice towers and rock slopes.

The northern side connects through high glaciated terrain toward Makalu La and Kangchungtse.

Makalu’s great faces rise directly from these glacier systems. The west face combines huge granite walls with hanging ice, while the south face contains gullies and ramps repeatedly exposed to falling ice.

Glacier change continues altering these landscapes, meaning route conditions cannot be assumed to remain the same from decade to decade.

View of Mount Makalu mirroring in lake near Kongma La pass, three passes trek, way to Everest base camp, Khumbu valley, Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal

🏞️ Makalu Barun National Park

The Nepalese side of Makalu lies within Makalu Barun National Park, one of the most biologically diverse protected landscapes in the Himalayas.

The park covers approximately 1,500 square kilometers, with an additional buffer zone of around 830 square kilometers.

Its most extraordinary characteristic is its vertical range. The protected landscape rises from approximately 435 meters above sea level to Makalu’s summit, an elevation difference of more than eight kilometers within a relatively short horizontal distance.

That variation produces an exceptional sequence of ecosystems.

Tropical forests in the lower Arun Valley give way to temperate woodland, subalpine forest, alpine grassland, high mountain tundra, glaciers, and finally the permanent snow and rock of Makalu’s summit.

🌿 Flora and Fauna

Makalu Barun National Park contains remarkable botanical diversity. Nepalese conservation and tourism authorities record dozens of orchid species, medicinal plants, primroses, bamboo species, oaks, and approximately 25 species of rhododendron.

Lower valleys contain sal and subtropical forest. Middle elevations support oak, maple, magnolia, and other broadleaf trees, while higher forests contain fir, birch, juniper, and rhododendron.

Vegetation becomes increasingly sparse above the tree line until almost nothing survives on Makalu’s upper slopes.

The transition is one of the most dramatic in Nepal. A trek toward Base Camp begins in environments capable of supporting dense forest and agriculture before eventually reaching a landscape composed almost entirely of moraine, glacier ice, rock, and snow.

🐾 Wildlife

Makalu Barun supports an unusually rich collection of Himalayan wildlife.

The snow leopard survives in remote high-altitude portions of the park, while the red panda occupies suitable forest habitat lower down.

Other mammals include Himalayan black bears, clouded leopards, Himalayan tahr, goral, serow, barking deer, wild boar, langur monkeys, musk deer, marmots, and smaller mountain species.

The park also supports more than 400 bird species according to Nepalese conservation sources. These include both forest birds and species adapted to alpine environments.

Such biodiversity is possible because the park spans an exceptional range of temperatures, elevations, and vegetation zones.

Makalu’s apparently barren summit therefore forms the uppermost part of an ecosystem extending thousands of vertical meters below.

🌊 The Arun and Barun Valleys

The Barun River drains much of the landscape south of Makalu before joining the larger Arun River.

The Arun is one of the major Himalayan river systems flowing through eastern Nepal and eventually contributes to the Koshi basin.

The valley has exceptional relief. Rivers descending from glaciers beneath Makalu travel through deep alpine gorges before entering forested lower country only a relatively short distance away.

For early expeditions, this terrain created enormous logistical difficulties. Porters had to negotiate primitive trails, swollen rivers, dense vegetation, landslides, and high passes before climbers even reached Base Camp.

Modern transportation has shortened portions of the journey, but the Barun Valley retains a much more remote character than the approaches to Everest or Annapurna.

🥾 Makalu Base Camp Trek

Makalu can be experienced without attempting the summit through the Makalu Base Camp Trek, one of Nepal’s more demanding high-altitude trekking routes.

The journey traditionally begins after reaching the Tumlingtar region and traveling toward Num and the entrance to Makalu Barun National Park.

From there, trekkers cross steep valleys and high passes before entering the upper Barun drainage.

Unlike the Everest Base Camp route, where lodges occur regularly along a heavily traveled trail, Makalu has historically required significantly more independent logistics.

Nepal Tourism Board continues to describe the region as suitable primarily for experienced trekkers.

The reward is exceptional isolation and increasingly dramatic views of Makalu, Chamlang, and other mountains of the eastern Himalayas.

🏘️ Communities of the Makalu Region

The wider Makalu Barun region includes Rai, Sherpa, Singsawa/Bhote, and other communities whose livelihoods developed long before international mountaineering arrived.

Agriculture, livestock herding, trade, and the seasonal use of mountain pastures have historically shaped settlement patterns throughout the lower and middle valleys.

Higher villages display strong Tibetan Buddhist influences, while lower elevations contain a broader mixture of cultural and linguistic traditions.

Early climbing expeditions often described the Barun Valley as wilderness, but this term can obscure the long human history of the region.

Modern conservation management recognizes that the national park and its buffer zone contain both important ecosystems and inhabited cultural landscapes.

🪨 Geology

Makalu formed through the continuing collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

India’s northward movement compressed and thickened the crust, uplifting rocks that eventually became the Himalayas.

The Makalu region contains a complex mixture of metamorphic and intrusive rocks exposed by uplift and erosion.

Its dramatic pyramid reflects both tectonic structure and millions of years of glacial carving.

Moving ice excavated deep valleys around the mountain, while freeze-thaw weathering sharpened ridges and fractured exposed rock.

Avalanches and rockfall continue to reshape the faces. Earthquakes periodically alter slopes throughout eastern Nepal, and glacier retreat exposes new areas of unstable terrain.

Makalu therefore remains part of an active mountain-building and erosion system rather than a fixed landscape.

🏔️ Nearby Mountains

Lhotse rises northwest of Makalu to 8,516 meters and serves as Makalu’s line parent in topographic prominence calculations.

Mount Everest stands farther northwest at 8,848.86 meters.

Chamlang rises southwest of Makalu to approximately 7,319 meters and has developed its own remarkable modern climbing history.

Kangchungtse, or Makalu II, reaches approximately 7,678 meters immediately north-northwest of the main summit.

Chomo Lonzo rises to approximately 7,790 meters north of Makalu in Tibet.

Baruntse reaches more than 7,100 meters to the west, while numerous other 6,000- and 7,000-meter summits fill the surrounding Makalu-Barun landscape.

Kumbhakarna and the greater Kangchenjunga region lie much farther east.

🧭 Can Makalu Be Climbed Today?

Yes. Makalu remains open to permitted mountaineering expeditions in Nepal, and the northwest route continues to serve as the principal line to the summit.

Nepal’s 2025 official mountaineering statistics recorded 827 summit records through December 2024, illustrating how much climbing activity has increased since the mountain’s first ascent while also showing that Makalu remains far less heavily climbed than Everest.

Modern expeditions typically establish multiple high camps and may use fixed ropes, supplemental oxygen, and Sherpa climbing support on the normal route.

The existence of this infrastructure should not be interpreted as making Makalu easy.

Its remote approach, technical upper route, changeable glaciers, extreme weather, rock and ice climbing, and high-altitude summit ridge place it among the more serious commercially accessible 8,000-meter peaks.

⚠️ Makalu Compared With Other Eight-Thousanders

Makalu is often grouped among the more difficult of the fourteen 8,000-meter mountains.

Unlike the standard routes on Cho Oyu or Manaslu, Makalu’s normal route contains significant technical climbing very high on the mountain.

The final summit pyramid is particularly important. Climbers who have already reached 8,000 meters must still negotiate steep snow, ice, and rock rather than simply following a gradual slope to the highest point.

The mountain is also substantially less crowded than Everest. That can be attractive to experienced climbers seeking a quieter expedition, but it means fewer people and less infrastructure are available if conditions deteriorate.

Alternative routes increase the difficulty enormously. The West Pillar, west face, south face, and southeast-side routes rank among the great technical climbs of the Himalayas.

⭐ Why Makalu Is Remarkable

Makalu is remarkable first because of its physical form. At 8,485 meters, it is one of the five highest mountains on Earth, yet it rises as an almost perfectly individual pyramid rather than disappearing into a larger massif. Its four sharp ridges and dark exposed walls give the mountain an appearance unlike almost any other eight-thousander.

Its climbing history is equally distinctive.

The first American attempt in 1954 explored the southeast ridge in terrible weather. The French then arrived with one of the most carefully prepared expeditions of the golden age of Himalayan mountaineering. Their success in 1955 was extraordinary: nine climbers reached the summit in only three days.

Once the standard route had been established, Makalu became a testing ground for the future of high-altitude climbing.

The Japanese completed the southeast ridge. The French West Pillar pushed technical climbing into terrain above 7,500 meters. Yugoslav climbers conquered the immense south face. John Roskelley showed that the West Pillar could be climbed with a tiny team and without bottled oxygen. Jerzy Kukuczka opened a new route solo. Pierre Béghin survived a terrifying direct south-face climb and avalanche. Kitty Calhoun became the first woman to reach the summit by one of its hardest routes.

The Russians finally solved the central west face in 1997, and Moro and Urubko ended nearly three decades of failed winter attempts in 2009.

Even skiing entered Makalu’s history when Adrian Ballinger descended most of the mountain in 2022.

The standard route may now be understood, but Makalu has never become ordinary. Its upper pyramid still demands real climbing, its great walls remain formidable, and its isolated position above the Barun Valley gives it a wildness that many more heavily traveled 8,000-meter mountains have partly lost.

Makalu is not merely the fifth-highest mountain in the world. It is one of the Himalayas’ great architectural masterpieces and one of the defining mountains in the evolution of technical high-altitude climbing.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Evening view of Mount Makalu from mount Gokyo Ri | Daniel Prudek

How high is Makalu?

Makalu reaches 8,485 meters (27,838 feet) according to modern detailed topographic mapping.

Is Makalu the fifth-highest mountain in the world?

Yes. Only Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, and Lhotse are higher.

Where is Makalu?

Makalu lies on the Nepal–Tibet border in the Mahalangur Himal, southeast of Mount Everest.

Why do some sources say Makalu is 8,463 meters?

Older surveys and mountaineering records commonly used 8,463 meters, while modern detailed mapping supports approximately 8,485 meters. Both figures therefore appear frequently in historical literature.

What does Makalu mean?

The exact etymology is uncertain. The name is often associated with the Sanskrit Mahākāla and translated as “Great Black” or “Great Darkness,” possibly referring to the mountain’s dark rock.

Who first attempted Makalu?

The first organized climbing attempt was made by the 1954 California Himalayan Expedition led by William Siri.

Who first climbed Makalu?

French climbers Lionel Terray and Jean Couzy made the first ascent.

When was Makalu first climbed?

Terray and Couzy reached the summit on May 15, 1955.

Who led the first-ascent expedition?

The successful French expedition was led by Jean Franco.

What route did the first ascenders use?

They approached through Makalu La, traversed the north side, and gained the northwest summit ridge. This general line became the modern normal route.

How many members of the 1955 expedition summited?

Nine climbers reached the summit over three consecutive days, an exceptional achievement for an early 8,000-meter expedition.

When was the southeast ridge first climbed?

Yuichi Ozaki and Hajime Tanaka completed its first ascent on May 23, 1970.

Who first climbed the West Pillar?

Bernard Mellet and Yannick Seigneur reached the summit by the West Pillar on May 23, 1971.

Why is the West Pillar famous?

It required exceptionally difficult rock and aid climbing above 7,000 meters and became one of the first truly technical big-wall-style routes completed on an 8,000-meter mountain.

When was Makalu’s south face first climbed?

A Yugoslav expedition led by Aleš Kunaver completed the first ascent of the south face in October 1975.

Did anyone climb the 1975 route without supplemental oxygen?

Yes. Marjan Manfreda reached the summit without bottled oxygen.

Did Jerzy Kukuczka climb Makalu?

Yes. Kukuczka completed a new route solo, in alpine style and without supplemental oxygen, on October 15, 1981.

Who was the first woman to climb Makalu?

American climber Kitty Calhoun became the first woman to reach Makalu’s summit.

When did Kitty Calhoun summit Makalu?

She reached the summit with John Schutt on May 18, 1990 by the West Pillar.

Has Makalu’s west face been climbed?

Yes. A Russian expedition completed the first ascent of the main west face in 1997 after roughly two decades of failed attempts.

Who made the first winter ascent of Makalu?

Simone Moro and Denis Urubko completed the first winter ascent.

When was Makalu first climbed in winter?

They reached the summit on February 9, 2009.

What happened to Jean-Christophe Lafaille?

Lafaille disappeared high on Makalu during a solo winter attempt in January 2006. His exact fate remains unknown.

Has Makalu been skied?

Yes. Adrian Ballinger completed the first broadly recognized ski descent in May 2022, beginning approximately 15 meters below the summit and descending to around 5,900 meters, with several rappels interrupting the ski line.

How prominent is Makalu?

Makalu has approximately 2,378 meters (7,802 feet) of clean topographic prominence.

Is Makalu an ultra-prominent mountain?

Yes. Its prominence substantially exceeds the 1,500-meter threshold used to define an Ultra.

Can Makalu still be climbed?

Yes. Nepal continues to permit expeditions to Makalu, with the northwest route serving as the principal modern climbing line.

Is Makalu harder than Everest?

Technical difficulty depends on the route and conditions, but Makalu’s normal route generally involves more technical climbing near the summit than Everest’s standard commercial routes. Both mountains involve extreme altitude and serious objective hazards.

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