New Route on Himalayan Mountain Cho Oyu
Gelje Sherpa achieves a longtime goal of climbing the world's sixth highest peak from the difficult Nepal side
Gelje Sherpa and his team have made the first ascent of a new route up Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth highest mountain, from Nepal. The summit team included Tenging Gyaljen Sherpa, Lakpa Temba Sherpa, Lakpa Tenji Sherpa, Ngima Ongda Sherpa, Chhangba Sherpa and Alasdair McKenzie.
The climb was a longtime goal for Gelje Sherpa, who’s one of the most accomplished Himalayan climbers They’re the first climbers to ascend the south-southwest ridge from bottom to top and the first to climb the south face since a new route went up in 2009 by Boris Dedeshko and Denis Urubko (American Alpine Journal story by Urubko here).
Mingma Sherpa with Seven Summit Treks shared on social media that they “started at approximately 2 a.m. from camp four and made it to the top after a continuous effort of over 17 hours.” The team faced several challenges along the way, as Mingma Sherpa said, “By May 30, McKenzie and the sherpa team, including Gelje Sherpa, had fixed ropes up to 7,625m but were forced to return to base camp due to a shortage of ropes. On June 4, with all preparations in place, the team set off on their final summit push.”
Gelje Sherpa rose to mainstream media fame in 2023 after he saved the life of a climber on Everest by rolling him up in a sleeping bag and carrying him off. The first ascent of Cho Oyu was in October 1954 via the northwest ridge by Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama, Herbert Tichy and Joseph Jöchler.
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