Jannu is an important Western outlier of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. It is a large and steep peak in its own right, and has numerous challenging climbing routes. A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... The most general definition of a mountain range is a group of mountains bordered by lowlands. ... Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which is aligned with the spin axis of the Earth. ... In climbing, a first ascent (FA) is the first climb to reach the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Southern and northern Mount Everest climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. ... Kanchenjunga (also called Kangchenjunga, Kangchen Dzö-nga, Khangchendzonga, Kanchenjanga, Kachendzonga, or Kangchanfanga) is the third highest mountain in the world and the second highest in Nepal, located in the Taplejung district. ...

The official name of this peak is Kumbhakarna, but the designation Jannu is still better known.

Location

Jannu is the highest peak of the Kumbhakarna Section of the Kangchenjunga Himal (using Carter's classification), which straddles the border between Nepal and Sikkim. Jannu is entirely within Nepal. A long ridge connects it to Kangchenjunga on the east.

Notable Features

Jannu is the 32nd highest mountain in the world (using a cutoff of 500m prominence, or re-ascent). It is more notable for its climbing challenge: it is one of the hardest peaks in the world in terms of technical difficulty, due to a complex structure, a large rise above local terrain, and particularly steep climbing near the summit. The North Face, in particular, has been the scene of some of the most technical (and controversial) climbing ever done at altitudes over 7000m. Mount Everest, the worlds highest mountain The following is a list of the worlds 100 highest mountains, all of which are located in Asia. ... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ...

Climbing History

Jannu was first reconnoitered in 1957 by Guido Magnone, and first attempted in 1959 by a French team led by Jean Franco. It was first climbed in 1962 by a team led by the noted French alpinist Lionel Terray. Those reaching the summit were Robert Paragot, Paul Kellar, René Desmaison, and Sherpa Gyalzen Mitchu (April 28) and Jean Ravier, Lionel Terray, and Sherpa Wangdi (April 29). Lionel Terray (born July 25, 1921 in Grenoble) is a French climber who did many first ascents, including the first ascent of Makalu with Jean Couzy on 15 May 1955 and the first ascent of the Fitz-Roy in the Andes. ...

Their route starts from the Yamatari Glacier south of the peak and follows a circuitous route to the large plateau known as the Throne (a hanging glacier south of the summit). It then climbed to the summit via the Southeast Ridge.

The huge, steep North Face (the so-called "Wall of Shadows") was first climbed in 1976 by a Japanese team, by a route that starts on the left side of the face and then meets the East Ridge, avoiding the steep headwall at the top of the face. A Slovenian climber, Tomo Cesen, claimed a solo ascent of a more direct route on the face in 1989, but this claim is considered suspect by many in the climbing community.

In 2004, after a failed attempt the previous year, a Russian team led by Alexander Odintsov succeeded in climbing the direct North Face route through the headwall. This required big-wall aid techniques in a sustained, committing setting at over 7500m, a major achievement. However some in the climbing community were upset to learn that the Russians left a good deal of equipment on the wall, provoking a debate over what constitutes appropriate modern style on such a route.

The Himalayan Index lists over a dozen ascents of Jannu; there may be others that did not get written up in the climbing literature.

External links

• Himalayan Index
• DEM files for the Himalaya (Corrected versions of SRTM data)

Sources

• H. Adams Carter. "Classification of the Himalaya," in the American Alpine Journal 59(1985), pp. 109-141.
• Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine Style, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
• High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks by Jill Neate, ISBN 0-89886-278-8
• American Alpine Journal 79 (2005), pp. 56-63.