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GUNUNG · Nepal

Lhotse

ल्होत्से (Lhotse)

Source
Lhotse

Photo: source

Information

Elevation
8.516 m
Country
Nepal (NP)
Location / Range
Mahalangur Himalaya (Khumbu subrange), Nepal–China (Tibet) border
Mountain type
Himalayan orogenic peak (non-volcanic) — the fourth-highest in the world
Volcanic?
No (non-volcanic)
Coordinates
27.9617, 86.9333
Difficulty
Very difficult and technical (a true eight-thousander, death zone)
Best Season
April–May (pre-monsoon); October (post-monsoon) as a shorter secondary window
Permits & Rules
A summit permit (royalty) from Nepal's Department of Tourism is mandatory, arranged through an official expedition operator; Lhotse and Everest climbs are often run jointly from the Nepal side
Hazards
Death zone (>8,000 m), the roughly 1,100 m Lhotse Face wall dense with seracs and avalanches, rockfall in the couloir, sudden storms, route congestion in the busy season, and accumulated fatigue from the long approach

Description

Lhotse (8,516 m) is the fourth-highest mountain on Earth, rising just south of Everest within the Mahalangur Himal massif on the Nepal–China (Tibet) border and connected to Everest via the South Col. Its name is Tibetan for 'South Peak'. Unlike a trekking objective, Lhotse is genuine eight-thousander mountaineering: the normal route shares Everest's Base Camp in the Khumbu, climbs the legendary Lhotse Face ice wall, then attacks the narrow, steep Reiss Couloir to the summit, where rock and ice fall are constant hazards. It was first climbed by the Swiss pair Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger on 18 May 1956. The massif holds the sub-summits Lhotse Middle (8,414 m) and Lhotse Shar (8,383 m). Its roughly 3,200 m South Face is one of the tallest mountain walls in the world and remains one of the most extreme challenges in alpinism, first fully climbed by a Slovenian team in 1990.

Routes

Rute Normal — Couloir Lhotse via South Col (rute Swiss 1956)

Sangat berat & teknis (8000-an); kombinasi glasier, es terjal (Lhotse Face), dan couloir sempit di zona kematian
Ekspedisi ±40–55 hari (termasuk pendekatan, aklimatisasi bertahap, dan jendela cuaca puncak)

The normal Lhotse route shares the Everest path from Khumbu Base Camp (~5,360 m): through the Khumbu Icefall, Camp I in the Western Cwm (~6,065 m), Camp II at the upper Western Cwm (~6,500 m), and Camp III on the Lhotse Face (~7,100 m). Here Everest and Lhotse routes diverge: Lhotse climbers continue straight up via Camp IV at the South Col (~7,900 m) — also used by Everest climbers — then veer right to attack the Lhotse Couloir, a steep, hazardous gully between rock and ice leading to the 8,516 m summit. The couloir is prone to rock and ice fall, making an early-morning start (2–3 a.m.) critical to avoid solar heating that worsens objective hazards.

Source

Climbing Experiences

Lhotse (8,516 m), Everest's southern neighbour, is a technical eight-thousander whose summit is guarded by the narrow, steep Reiss Couloir. Its normal route shares terrain with Everest up the Lhotse Face before branching toward its own summit. The videos and writing below document real expeditions — from full summit footage and rope-fixing teamwork to a historic ski descent and accounts of climbing the Lhotse Face. All links are verified live.

References

The summary above is compiled from the following sources. Click to explore them yourself.

  1. 1 Wikipedia Lhotse en.wikipedia.org · EN
  2. 2 Wikipedia Lhotse id.wikipedia.org · ID
  3. 3 Wikidata Lhotse (Q168702) wikidata.org · EN
  4. 4 Encyclopedia Climbing the Lhotse Face alanarnette.com · EN