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While Himalayan mountains like Everest and K2 are well known to the public, the holy mountain of Kanchenjunga lies in obscurity, known only to locals, travel veterans, and mountaineers. Back in the day, the mountain was a popular challenge for British and American explorers who would first go to the beautiful city of Darjeeling -- the nearest town with modern infrastructure at the time -- to put together a team of porters and mountaineers, as climbing without a full-fledged team was, and is, not considered a sane course of action. Unsurprisingly, most people who attempted the climb failed, often losing a few members of their team to the unforgiving environment, where they may or may not have joined the pantheon of Gods who supposedly reside in the icy reaches of Kanchenjunga.

Up until recently, the governments of Nepal and India had banned unauthorized persons from climbing the infamous mountain, citing concerns about preservation, safety, and religious sanctity. However, as the local labor economy, which has traditionally comprised of Sherpas who make a living as guides, dwindles in wealth and magnitude, the government has decided to open the mountain to the public once again, albeit with an enormous list of restrictions, regulations, and fees.

  • Altitude: 8,586m (28,169ft)
  • Location: East Nepal, Northeast India
  • Duration: Ten weeks
  • Cost: $7,000
  • Difficulty: Extreme
  • Agency: Asian Trekking

Related: 10 Highest Mountains (& Their Climbing Success Rate)

Case Study: 1905 Kanchenjunga Expedition

Before getting into fine details, a recap of the infamous 1905 expedition will shed light onto the dangers of Kanchenjunga in addition to the sorts of people who have been drawn to explore it. Since then, almost 120 years ago, the conditions on the mountain have not changed. Do not harbor any illusions about modern technology making the climb any safer. In fact, rumors have it that Kanchenjunga is more dangerous than ever due to shifting climate patterns triggering avalanches and rock falls.

Aleister Crowley, the wicked occultist from England, traveled to Darjeeling with the intention of climbing Kanchenjunga. According to his esoteric research, there are important mysteries and truths to uncover on the mountain -- an ancient belief shared by Hindus and other religious groups in the region. He joined the Swiss photographer Jules Jacot-Guillarmod (this was back when photographers were daring explorers and pioneers) among others. They each recruited locals to join an ecclesiastically-arranged team, with Crowley hiring his hotel keeper, a young Italian named Rigo De Righi.

The short of the story is that once they embarked on the climb, a madness overcame the climbers. With the scent of forbidden immortality now motivating him, Crowley turned into a tyrant, endangering the lives of the team in order to summit faster. Jacot-Guillarmod and De Righi were left no choice but to conspire and mutiny against Crowley, bringing many porters to reject his authority as well. Despite the insanity and betrayals, the team managed to set up Camp V above the Yalung Glacier. However, the mutinying team members decided that they had had enough and began descending against Crowley's orders. Maybe due to some malicious spell or maybe due to Crowley's genuine premonition, the team was met with an avalanche while descending the glacier, where at least four people perished. The next day, Crowley descended himself, heading back to Darjeeling where he pillaged the expedition funds and disappeared.

It was not until 50 years later that Kanchenjunga was successfully summited.

Related: Backpacking The Himalayas: Some Insider Secrets To Help Your Trip Go Smoothly

How To Climb Kanchenjunga

Visas

To begin with, prospectors will have to get a long term visa for either Nepal or India, depending on which side of the mountain they intend to climb. The most popular passage is on the South face, which can be reached from Nepal.

Duration And Timing

The climb lasts around ten weeks, which means that the ascent must be planned carefully to account for changing seasons. It is advisable to avoid climbing in the monsoon, which falls in the summer months between May and August. It is also best to avoid climbing in the spring, as melting ice can be a hazard. It is therefore advisable to conduct the expedition in November or December when the ice is hardened and there is less rain. That said, there is no ideal time to climb Kanchenjunga as the weather is infamously unpredictable.

Funding

Budget around $10,000 per person. This includes the cost of porters, equipment, ten weeks of supplies, visas, permission fees, insurance, medical checks, and after care. It's a good idea to lodge in a decent hotel before and after the climb as recovery will require expensive comforts and good food.

Preparing For The Climb

Nothing of this sort has likely been covered in traditional guides to mountaineering. The fact is that few people, alive or dead, have attempted to summit Kanchenjunga, and fewer still have been successful. One must be highly fit, healthy, and technically skilled and experienced in the ways of vertical ascent, glacial climbing, and rappelling. Furthermore, one must possess advanced knowledge of rope climbing and the various knots involved. Every climber should also undergo emergency medical training specialized for high altitude conditions.

Putting Together A Team

A team of porters, who often come from the Sherpa clan but not always, must be hired and paid well. They will be the essential lifeblood of the journey as they know the necessary techniques and paths to survive the expedition, let alone complete it.

It's a good idea to have a doctor trained in high altitude medicine on the team.

Related: This Is What Happens When You Move (Or Travel) To A High-Altitude Destination

Overview Of Camps

Though it varies by route, there are around six camps above base camp. Each camp marks a particular milestone in terms of altitude and provides a relatively safe place to rest and recover, though a lot of the time climbers will have to set up their own camps in between the bigger ones.

The base camp for the southern face is accessed by trekking through the Arun Valley in East Nepal. Here, hikers may come across rare creatures like the Snow Leopard and Red Panda.

At a pace of around ten hours of climbing per day, most climbers reach Camp IV with few issues. However, it is here where one of the most dangerous challenges must be faced -- the Yalung Kang glacier. The massive glacier must be overcome with the help of hooks, ropes, and extensive teamwork. It's also worth noting that past Camp IV, based on recorded fatalities, the chances of mortality are significantly higher for a number of reasons stated below.

Once summited, the descent back to base camp is faster and easier by comparison, but not without its dangers.

Common Challenges

The most common causes of mortality on Kanchenjunga include hypothermia, falling, avalanches, suffocation due to oxygen deprivation, rock falls, and illness. People most commonly fall on Yalung Kang and after Camp IV. There has been one recorded case of High altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE).

Mysteriously, many people simply disappear and have no recorded cause of death. Experts of mountaineering, theology, and psychology may speculate as to what happened, and whether the disappearance was intentional or not. This may sound ridiculous, but during the late 1800s and early 1900s, many people from all over the world came to the Himalayas in search of the mythical Shambala, and who's to really say that they did not find it?

Next: 10 Tallest Mountains In The World (& Facts About Them)