Machapuchare - Mountain where no human has ever set foot

Machapuchare, Machhapuchchhre or Machhapuchhre is a mountain in the Annapurna Himalayas of north central Nepal. Rising nearly 7000 metres into the clear blue sky above Nepal’s rugged Annapurna mountain range, Machapuchare is arguably the most untouched place on Earth. Believed to be one of the homes of the Hindu god Shiva.

Machapuchare has never been climbed to its summit. The only attempt was in 1957 by a British team led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Roberts. Climbers Wilfrid Noyce and A. D. M. Cox climbed to within 150 m (492 ft) of the summit via the north ridge, to an approximate altitude of 22,793 ft (6,947 m). They did not complete the ascent, as they had promised not to set foot on the actual summit. Since then, the mountain has been declared sacred, and is now closed to climbers.

That someone is rumoured New Zealander Bill Denz, an accomplished solo climber made an illegal ascent of Machapuchare in the early 1980s, becoming the first and very likely only person to ever set foot at the sacred mountain’s summit. Since he died in an avalanche elsewhere in the Himalayas in 1983, we’ll never know the full story.

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