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Ama Dablam

Mountain in Nepal

Mountain in Nepal

FieldValue
nameAma Dablam
photoHimalayas, Ama Dablam, Nepal.jpg
photo_captionAma Dablam from the northwest
elevation_m6812
elevation_ref
prominence_m1041
prominence_ref
rangeKhumbu Himal
listingMountains of Nepal
locationKhumbu, Nepal
mapKoshi Province#Nepal
map_captionLocation in Northeastern Nepal
label_positionleft
coordinates
first_ascent1961
easiest_routeRock/snow/ice climb

Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Eastern Himalayas range of Koshi Province, Nepal. The main peak is 6812 m, the lower western peak is 6170 m. The name Ama Dablam literally means in the Sherpa language; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional double-pendant containing pictures of the gods, worn by Sherpa women. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the eastern sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp. Because of its soaring ridges and steep faces, Ama Dablam is sometimes referred as the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas". The mountain is featured on the one rupee Nepalese banknote.

Alfred Gregory led the first attempt to climb Ama Dablam in 1958. The first successful ascent was made on 13 March 1961, when Mike Gill (NZ), Barry Bishop (US), Mike Ward (UK) and Wally Romanes (NZ) climbed the Southwest Ridge. They were well-acclimatised to altitude, having wintered over at 5800 m near the base of the peak as part of the 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary.

The mountain is 162 km north of the provincial capital of Biratnagar and 152 km northeast of Kathmandu. In the mid-1980s it was still considered to be "a formidable challenge" with "steep awkward sections on both rock and ice", but since then ascents have become considerably more straightforward with lines of fixed rope placed along most of the route and Ama Dablam has become the third most popular Himalayan peak for permitted expeditions. The most popular route by far is the Southwest Ridge. Prior to a 2006 avalanche, climbers typically set up three camps along the ridge, with Camp III just below and to the right of the hanging glacier, the Dablam. Any ice that calves off the glacier typically goes left, away from the camp. However, after the avalanche, climbers now prefer to set just two camps to minimize risk. Camp I is at an altitude of over 5,800 m, and Camp II is at an altitude of over 6,000 m. A climbing permit and a liaison officer are required when attempting Ama Dablam. As with Mount Everest, the best climbing months are April and May (before the monsoon) and September and October.

Notable ascents

  • 1961 Southwest Ridge (VI 5.9 60deg 1500m) FA (First Ascent) by Mike Gill (NZ), Barry Bishop (US), Mike Ward (UK), and Wally Romanes (NZ), see 1960-61 Silver Hut expedition.
  • 1979 Southwest Ridge SA by Martin Boysen (UK); Tom Frost, David Breashears, Greg Lowe, Jeff Lowe, Peter Pilafian, Jonathan Wright (all US), and Lhakpa Dorje (Nepal) reached the summit on 22 April in blizzard conditions, as part of a well-financed climb-and-film expedition. Doug Robinson and John Wasson (both USA) reached the summit the next day.
  • 1979 Lowe Route on the South Face (VI AI4 M5 1200m), FA Solo by Jeff Lowe, 30 April 1979.
  • 1979 North Ridge (VI 5.7 70deg 1600m) by a large French expedition led by and placed 14 Frenchmen and 4 Nepalese Sherpa in three groups on the summit over three days, 21-23 Oct 1979.
  • 1981 Northeast Spur to North Ridge (VI 5.7 70deg 1500m) by Tim McCartney-Snape, Lincoln Hall, and Andrew Henderson (AUS).
  • 1983 East Ridge (VI 80deg 1500m) by Alain Hubert (Belgium) and (Switzerland).
  • 1984 Southwest Ridge solo by Naoe Sakashita (JP).
  • 1985 Ariake-Sakashita on the west face (VI 5.7 65deg 1400m) by Masayuki Ariake and Naoe Sakashita (both JP).
  • 1985 Northeast Face (VI mixed 90deg 1400m) winter ascent by Michael Kennedy and Carlos Buhler (both US).
  • 1996 Stane Belak Šrauf Memorial Route on the northwest face (VI 5.7 AI5 A2+ 1650m) by and Tomaž Humar (both from Slovenia), which earned them the 1996 Piolet d'Or prize.
  • 1996 North Ridge Austro-German alpine-style ascent by Friedl Huber, Max Berger, Alois Badegruber, and Roman Dirnböck.
  • 2001 Northwest Ridge (VI Scottish 7, 2000m) by Jules Cartwright and Rich Cross (both UK).
  • 2021 by the first Arab woman, Nadhira Al Harthy Asma Al Thani was the first Qatari woman to later summit.
  • 2023 by Mathéo Jacquemoud, French mountain guide.
  • 2023 by Tomáš Otruba, Czech mountaineer.
  • 2024 by Laura Dahlmeier, German mountaineer, fastest time by a woman, 12 h 1 min.

Accidents

In May 1959, George Fraser and Mike Harris, two of Britain's finest climbers, were last seen at 6,400 metres (21,000 ft) on the mountain's north ridge, but never returned to tell whether they had reached the summit.

On the night of 13/14 November 2006, a large serac collapse occurred from the hanging glacier, which swept away several tents at Camp III, killing six climbers (three European, three Nepalese). Eyewitness testimony indicates that Camp III had not been sited in an unusual or abnormally dangerous spot, and that the serac fall was of such magnitude as to render the specific placing of the tents at Camp III irrelevant.

On 23 October 2014, Azerbaijani climber Murad Ashurly died after his rope snapped, causing him to fall about 300 metres while descending from Camp 2 to Camp 1.

On November 28, 2016, highly acclaimed climbing Sherpa Lakpa Thundu Sherpa of Pangboche was killed when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck, triggering an avalanche and the release of a few ice blocks. Thundu was at 19,680 ft on the 22,349 ft mountain.

On 11 November 2017, Russian BASE jumper Valery Rozov was killed when he jumped from the mountain in a wingsuit and struck a cliff.

On 28 April 2025, Austrian climber Martin Hornegger was reported dead after he fell during his descent from the mountain on 26 April.

References

;Notes

;Sources

  • {{Cite journal | last = Kennedy | first = Michael | title = Mountain Profile: Ama Dablam

References

  1. Nepa Maps (Pvt. Ltd.), NE517: Everest Base Camp & Gokyo, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2013
  2. {{cite peakbagger
  3. Kennedy 2005, p. 22
  4. Bo Parfet, Richard Buskin, ''Die Trying: One Man's Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits'', p. 205
  5. "पैसाले भन्ने रोचक कथा". Himal Khabar.
  6. Gregory, Alfred. (1959). "Himalaya, Nepal, Ama Dablam". American Alpine Journal.
  7. Kennedy 2005, p. 26
  8. (1999). "Regions of the Heart: The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves". Michael Joseph.
  9. Kennedy 2005, p. 27
  10. Kennedy 2005, page 26
  11. Kennedy 2005, page 33
  12. Kennedy 2005, pp. 34-36
  13. Kennedy 2005, pp. 37-38
  14. Kennedy 2005, page 39-41
  15. Sangeetha. (2021-01-16). "Nadhira does it again".
  16. (10 November 2021). "Sheikha Asmaa scales Ama Dablam peak in the Himalayas".
  17. (14 November 2023). "Fastest Known Time Broken on Ama Dablam".
  18. (30 October 2024). "Ama Dablam als Halbtagestour: Laura Dahlmeier gelingt Frauenbestzeit!".
  19. (1962). "High in the Thin Cold Air". Doubleday.
  20. (28 November 2016). "Sherpa Death on Ama Dablam".
  21. Pokhrel, Rajn. (Nov 12, 2017). "Russian extreme sports star killed in wingsuit accident on Mt Ama Dablam". The Himalayan Times.
  22. (28 April 2025). "Austrian climber dies on Nepal mountain".
  23. Kennedy 2005, page 28
  24. Kennedy 2005, page 31
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