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SHISHA PANGMA "Killer Mountains" - An ExplorersWeb Series
08:44 a.m. EDT Oct 21, 2003
In ExplorersWeb's series, we investigate messages hidden in unique statistics compiled by AdventureStats. We look at fatality rates for the 14 8000+ mountains. We started with the dreaded Karakorum/Pakistan giants and will now take a look at the Himalayan peaks. But we are not stopping there. We compare modern and old fatality statistics, trying to determine the effects of the arrival of commercial expeditions in 1990s. AdventureStats is providing the research and later, will also look into the causes of deaths.
Today, Everest has hosted close to 2,000 successful summits. 179 people have perished giving a fatality rate of 9.3% (fatality rate is defined as successful summits compared to fatalities). However, since 1990 there has been an explosion of summiteers and fatality statistics have changed. Up to 1990 the Everest fatality rate is a whopping 37%, yet from 1990 until today the rate has dropped to 4.4%. So how does that compare to the rest of the 8000+ peaks? Let's check it out.
Today we look at: Shisha Pangma (8,027m)
Standing at 8,027m, Shisha Pangma is the lowest of the world’s fourteen 8000m peaks. And not surprisingly, it was also the last to be summited. It is the only 8000er that lies entirely in Tibet, and was closed to western climbers until 1978. A large Chinese expedition accomplished the first successful ascent of Shisha Pangma on May 2, 1964, including summits by Hsu Ching, Chang Chun-yen, Wang Fu-zhou, Chen San, Cheng Tien-liang, Wu Tsung-yue, Sodnam Doji, Migmar Trashi, and Doji, Yonten.
Interestingly, Shisha Pangma is often regarded as among the easiest of the 8000m peaks to climb, and though this may be true from a technical standpoint, a closer look at the statistics reveals a different picture that climbers must bear in mind.
To date, 201 climbers have summited Shisha Pangma and 19 have died. The overall fatality rate is thus about 9.5%, just over Everest’s overall fatality rate of 9%! In addition, a comparison of recent statistics shows a tremendous increase in Shisha Pangma’s rate over the last decade. Up until 1990, the Shisha Pangma fatality rate was only 2%. But from 1990 until today, 17 people have died, and 101 have summited. Thus the rate increased to roughly 17% – almost four times more than the modern Everest fatality rate of 4.4%.
Whilst the old Everest risk was 37% and Shisha Pangma’s about 2%, over the last decade the two 8000ers have essentially switched places. Shisha Pangma’s summit-fatality rate has increased dramatically while Everest’s rate diminished. In a later follow up, we will take a closer look at the causes.
Shisha Pangma is a part of the Himalayan Mountain range. With more than 110 peaks that rise over 7,000m, the Himalayan range is the longest, highest mountain range on earth and home to ten of the world’s tallest mountains, including Mount Everest. It extends over 1,500 miles long and 250 miles wide as it passes through Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and India.
Silvio “Gnaro” Mondinelli just completed his autumn expedition to Shisha Pangma. It was a return trip for Gnaro who had previously climbed to the foresummit of the peak. Like many climbers, he believed he’d reached the true summit, but learned after coming down the mountain that he was short of his goal. He and his team mates returned this fall, but stopped at foresummit and decided not to proceed any further due to the risk of avalanche – an all too common occurrence on Shish that has taken several lives in recent years. In 1991, an avalanche buried six Japanese climbers, and in 1999, an avalanche claimed the lives of top mountaineers Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges.
With an overall fatality rate of just under 9.5% and modern fatality rate of almost 17%, Shisha Pangma is statistically more dangerous than Everest today.
Previous Articles - Killer Mountain Series
Kangchenjunga
Lhotse
Makalu
Cho Oyu
Dhaulagiri
Annapurna
Manaslu
K2
GII
GI
Nanga Parbat
Broad Peak
Image of Shisha Pangma courtesy of Gnaromondinelli.it.
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