Makalu.




A rock basin filled with glacier-ice is situated near the summit of Makalu and gives a striking appearance to the peak. In 1853 before trigonometrical observations had been taken Captain Sherwill wrote of Makalu:

One mountain in the Nepal range is a most remarkable object, both for its curious shape and for its immense height: its name none of my party knew, nor have I yet succeeded in obtaining the "name. The peak is a hollow crater-like mountain probably 27000 feet in height with a long table"mountain attached to it, both covered with glaciers.

 Makalu 
Elevation: 8,463 m (27,766 ft)
Ranked 5th


In 1884 Colonel Tanner wrote: 

With the exception of the Kinchinjunga peak, Makalu is the finest yet fixed in the eastern Himalaya. It stands apart from the Everest group and exposes a great mass of snow towards the Sandakphu ridge. From the south, in the plains of Bhagalpur and Purnea, it is the most striking object in the panorama of snow. It has a remarkable cup or hollow, which extends for about one third down its slope, by which it may be recognized  When examined with a high-power telescope great masses of glacier-ice may be seen finding their way over the edge of the cup. This ice has been collected round the sides of the amphitheatre-like hollow. The upper half of the mountain is composed of a very light colored rock, but the southern spur is dark like the cliffs, which are seen on the southern face of Everest. The white color of the rock lends it a softness, which is absent in the appearance of its higher neighbor  The southern and eastern faces are fully snow-clad, but "on the west are much bare rock and extensive streaks and patches which are too steep to retain "snow on their slopes. No northern spur of this mountain has been seen, but I have traced one "of about 19000 feet elevation towards the east, until it dips into the Arun valley. To the south two picturesque branches fully clad with snow are thrown off, but I cannot say that I have detected "any saddle or ridge connecting Makalu with Everest.

Makalu is remarkable for its sharp-edged buttresses, one of which is a magnificent specimen of the spiral type. These spiral buttresses conveying the idea of torsion are to be seen in all parts of the Himalaya: Rakaposhi in Hunza has one, Simvo (22360 feet) in Sikkim has one, and to residents of Mussooree the curvature of the eastern buttress of Banog (7433 feet), a small peak in the vicinity, is a permanent object of beauty.

Hermann de Schlagintweit, when observing Makalu from Phallut in 1855, mistook it for Mount Everest,  and the same mistake has been made by other travelers  Sandakphu, situated 38 miles from Darjeeling and on the Singalila ridge, commands a fine view of Makalu: from there the peak is 78 miles distant and is a more striking feature than Mount Everest, which stands 12 miles in rear.

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