Elevation: 27,890 feet 8,501 meters)
Location: Nepal, Asia
First Ascent: Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss (Switzerland), May 18, 1956
Fast Facts:
- Peak adjoins Mt. Everest, rising 2,000 feet above the South Col.
- The huge South Face is one of steepest in world, rising 1.9 miles in 1.4 miles.
- The summit is very sharp with no place to sit down.
- Lhotse has three summits: Lhotse Main (8,516 meters), Lhotse Shar (8,383 meters), and Lhotse East (8,413 meters).
- The first ascent was made during the Swiss Mt. Everest/Lhotse Expedition in 1956, during which the Swiss made the second ascent of Mt. Everest.
- Tomo Cesan claimed he climbed the massive South Face in 1990. Most climbers didn’t believe that a solo climber could ascend this difficult wall that had defeated many strong parties. He later recanted saying he only reached the summit ridge, but most don’t believe that either.
- A Russian expedition climbed the South Face later in 1990 and said a solo ascent was impossible.
- Lhotse is the least climbed 8,000-meter peak in Nepal.
