The mountain you can't climb..
The mountain you can't climb..
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Machhapuchhare – which translates to "fishtail" – is an iconic 6,993m mountain in central Nepal's Annapurna range that contains three of the world's 10 highest peaks. And yet, Machhapuchhare effortlessly steals the show, thanks to its position far from the much higher peaks of the Annapurna range, where it stands isolated and appears tall despite its humbler height.
One winter, I finally hiked to the basecamp of a smaller peak called Mardi Himal beneath Machhapuchhare. Established in 2012, the short five-day, 40km trek reaches a height of 4,500m and offers one of Machhapuchhare's finest and closest views. Another 1,000m upwards to Mardi Himal summit is the closest anyone can get to the peak.
That's because climbing Machhapuchhare is forbidden, a rarity in a country like Nepal that has embraced mountain tourism so enthusiastically that even the world's highest point – Mt Everest's 8,848m summit – gets overcrowded. But the reason Machhapuchhare remains a virgin peak – as well as the explosion of commercial trekking and mountaineering in Nepal today – can be attributed to one man: Lieutenant Colonel James Owen Merion Roberts (1916-1997).
Here's the story: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/2021...tm_source=digg
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Originally Posted by MMC
