Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China–Nepal border, between the Tibet Autonomous Region and Koshi Province.

Just a few kilometres west of Cho Oyu is Nangpa La (5,716m/18,753 ft), a glaciated pass that serves as the main trading route between the Tibetans and the Khumbu's Sherpas. This pass separates the Khumbu and Rolwaling Himalayas. Due to its proximity to this pass and the generally moderate slopes of the standard northwest ridge route, Cho Oyu is considered the easiest 8,000 metre peak to climb. one remarkably similar to the used by Edmund Hillary in his 1955 book High Adventure. A foray by Hillary and Lowe was stopped due to technical difficulties and avalanche danger at an ice cliff above and a report of Chinese troops a short distance across the border influenced Shipton to retreat from the mountain rather than continue to attempt to summit.

The mountain was first climbed on October 19, 1954, via the north-west ridge by Herbert Tichy, and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama of an Austrian expedition.

Cho Oyu is considered the easiest eight-thousander, with the lowest death-summit ratio (th of Annapurna's). It is the second most climbed eight-thousander after Everest (whose height makes it the most popular), and has over four times the ascents of the third most popular eight-thousander, Gasherbrum II. It is marketed as a "trekking peak", achievable for climbers with high fitness, but low mountaineering experience. It has a broadly flat summit plateau with no cairn (the traditional prayer flags on Cho Oyu's summit plateau do not mark the "technical" summit), which can be a source of confusion, and debate, amongst climbers (see Elizabeth Hawley).

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Timeline

thumb|Ascent by a team from [[China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) on 2 October 2008]]

  • 1952 First reconnaissance of north-west face by Edmund Hillary and party.
  • 1964 A controversial third ascent by a German expedition as there is no proof of reaching the summit. Two mountaineers die of exhaustion in camp 4 at .
  • 1988 On November 2, a Slovenian expedition consisting of Iztok Tomazin, Roman Robas, Blaž Jereb, Rado Nadvešnik, Marko Prezelj and Jože Rozman reach the summit via the never before climbed north face.
  • 1993 Marianne Chapuisat becomes the first woman to summit an eight thousander in the winter season when she summits Cho Oyu on February 10, 1993.
  • 1994 On May 13 Carlos Carsolio sets a world record speed ascent from base camp to summit, ascending in 18 hours and 45 minutes. died at age 71 after summiting on 25 September. His final words were "I’m the happiest man in the world. I’ve just summited a beautiful mountain."
  • 2011 Dutch climber Ronald Naar dies after becoming unwell at .

Sources

  • Herbert Tichy, Cho Oyu - Gnade der Götter, (Vienna: Ullstein 1955)
  • Cho Oyu page on Summitpost.org
  • Cho Oyu page on Himalaya-Info.org (German)
  • Ascents and fatalities statistics
  • Cho Oyu from Kyrgyzstan
  • Birdseye view video