Lhotse is a mountain in the Himalayas that is connected to Mount Everest via the South Col. At a height of 8,501¹ metres, it is the fourth highest peak on Earth. In addition to the main summit, Lhotse Middle (East) is 8,414 metres and Lhotse Shar is 8,383 metres.
Lhotse (main) was first climbed on May 18, 1956 by the Swiss team Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger. On May 12, 1979, Zepp Maierl and Rolf Walter of Austria made the first ascent of Lhotse Shar. On May 23, 2001, the first ascent of Lhotse Middle was made by Eugeny Vinogradsky, Serguei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov of a Russian expedition.
As of October 2003, 243 climbers have summited Lhotse and 11 have died.
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The western flank of Lhotse is known as the Lhotse Face. Any climber bound for the South Col on Everest must climb this 1,125m/3,700' wall of glacial blue ice. This face rises at 40 and 50 degree pitches with the occasional 80 degree bulges. High altitude climbing Sherpas and the lead climbers will set fixed ropes up this big wall of ice. Climbers and porters need to establish a good rhythm of front-pointing and pulling themselves up the ropes using their jumar. Two rocky sections called the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur interrupt the icy ascent on the upper part of the face.
See also: Eight-thousander, List of climbersTimeline
Lhotse Face
