Cholatse (6,440 m) was the last formally named but unclimbed peak. The name is derived from the Tibetan word, ‘Cho’ means Lake, ‘La’ means pass and ‘tse’ means peak. This dramatic mountain lies in the Mahalangur Himalayan range at the Khumbu region of Nepal, connected to Taboche (6,501 meters) by a long ridge. Interestingly, on the trail to Mount Everest base camp, the north and the east faces of the peak can be seen from Dugla. And its glacier descends off the east face. This peak lies on the ridge separating the Gokyo and Khumbu valleys, just north of Taboche.
This peak offers you the breath-taking panoramic views of the Himalayas such as Everest (8,850 m), Nuptse (7,879 m), Makalu (8,475 m), Lhotse (8,516 m), Baruntse (7,720 m), Lhotse Shar (8,383 m), and Ama Dablam (6,856 m), etc. The best season for this peak is March to May and September to December. Generally, it is recommended for the skilled climbers or the climbers should get mountaineering, ice, and rock climbing courses in order to ascent Cholatse.
This beautiful peak is rated to category ‘A’ by Mountaineering Association of Nepal. It is one of the technically difficult and challenging peaks around. This peak requires careful ascent. Verb Clevenger, Galen Rowell, John Roskelley, and Bill O’ Connor were the first climbers of Cholatse via southwest ridge on April 22, 1982. The easiest route on the peak would be the southwest ridge but was only repeated in 1993, again in 2005 and rarely since then. Before that in 1984 the north face was successfully scaled. Only then, on April 15, 2005, the first solo ascent was accomplished by Ueli Steck via the north face.
