The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short, is a mountain range in Asia , separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau . By extension, it is also the name of a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram , the Hindu Kush , and other, lesser, ranges that extend out from the Pamir Knot.

Together, the Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to the world's highest peaks, the Eight-thousands , which include Mt. Everest and K2. To comprehend the enormous scale of this mountain range consider that Aconcagua  , in the Andes, at 6,962 m, is the highest peak outside Asia, whereas the Himalayan system includes over 100 moutains exceeding 7,200 meters.

 The Himalayan system, which includes outlying subranges, stretches across six countries

: Afghanistan , Bhutan, Tibet ,India ,Nepal and Pakistan . Some of the world’s major rivers , the Indus, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Yangtze, rise in the Himalayas, and their combined drainage basin is home to some 1.3 billion people, including, most significantly, the people of Bangladesh. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of  South Asia ; many Himalayan peaks are sacred in both Hinduism and Buddhism .

The main Himalaya range runs, west to east, from the Indus river valley to the Brahmaputra river valley, forming an arc 2,400 km long, which varies in width from 400 km in the western Kashmir  -   Xingziang  region to 150 km in the eastern Tibet –Arunachal Pradesh region. The range consists of three coextensive sub-ranges, with the northern-most, and highest, known as the Great or Inner Himalayas.

The Himalayas separate the Indo-Gangetic plain from the Tibetan plateau. The bulk of the mountain range lies in Nepal, Bhutan and the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in India. The outlying parts of the range lie in Tibet, Pakistan (some in disputed territories) and Burma.

 

 

Notable Himalayan mountaineers :-                                                            

§                     George Mallory (1886–1924) Attempt at first ascent of Mount Everest; died on North Face.

§                     Noel Odell (1890–1987) British. First ascent, in 1936, of Nanda Devi, which remained the highest summited peak until 1950.

§                     Bill Tilman (1898–1977) British. First ascent of Nanda Devi in 1936. In 1934, first person to penetrate Nanda Devi sanctuary

§                     Frank Smythe (1900–1949) British. Mount Blank, Kamet, and early attempt on Kangchenjunga.

§                     Eric Shipton (1907–1977) British. With Bill Tillman, first to penetrate Nanda Devi sanctuary. Discovered route to Everest over Khumbu Glacier.

§                     John Hunt (1910–1998) British. Leader of 1953 expedition of Mount Everest.

§                     Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986) Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. First man on Everest's summit along with Edmund Hillary.

§                     Maurice Herzog (b. 1919) First person to summit an Eight-thousander , Annapurna , in 1950. Lost all toes and most fingers due to frostbite. Peak not climbed again until 1970.

§                     Sir Edmund Hillary (1919–2008) New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, the first man on Everest's summit along with Tenzing Norgay.

§                     Tom Bourdillon (1924–1956) member of British Everest expeditions 1951, 1952, and 1953, reached 300 feet (90 m) from summit of Everest three days before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally conquered it.

§                     Hermann Buhl (1924–1957) First ascent of  Nanga Parbat in 1953 (feat accomplished solo and without oxygen). First ascent of  Broad Peak. Died in fall on Chogolisa, body never found.

§                     Willi Unsoeld (1926–1979) United States. First ascent of Everest from West Face and first major traverse of a Himalayan peak, 1963. Daughter Nanda Devi Unsoeld killed during Nanda Devi expedition 1976. Died during avalanche on Mount Rainier, 1979.

§                     Chris Bonington (b. 1934) First ascent of Annapurna (South Face), 4 ascents of Everest.

§                     Nawang Gombu (b. 1936) Indian mountaineer. First person to climb Everest twice: 1963 and 1965.

§                     Jim Whittaker (b. 1936) United States. First American to summit Everest.

§                     Reinhold Messner (born 1944) Italian mountaineer. First man to climb all fourteen mountains over 8000 meters (collectively known as the eight-thousanders).

§                     Jerzy Kukuczka (1948–1989) Polish mountaineer. Ascended all fourteen eight-thousanders faster than anybody else, establishing ten new routes.

§                     Nazir Sabir Pakistani mountaineer. First ascent of two eight thousanders (Broad Peak & Gasherbrum II) in a single attempt.

§                     Swami Sundaranand (b. 1926 India) Climbed 25 mountains with little or no equipment from 1950-1990 to experience open eyed Samādhi using the ancient techniques of the Himalayan Yogis. Noted also for his extensive photography of the Indian Himalayas. Land has been secured in Gangotri , India, for a museum dedicated to his rare Himalayan photos and documentation of the Himalayan Glaciers with a special emphasis on environmental protection of the region.

§                     Jaime Viñals First Central American person to climb Mount Everest. Casey Mackins An English mountaineer who climbed Mt Everest by a new route without oxygen from Tibet in 1984 and then again from Nepal in 1990 during his famous Sea to Summit expedition where he became the first person to climb Everest starting from sea level

§                     José Antonio Delgado Sucre (1965–2006) was the first Venezuelan mountaineer to reach the summit of five eight-thousanders. He was one of the most experienced climbers in Latin America. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela.

§                     Ed Viesturs (b. June 22, 1959) is the first American, and 12th person overall, to summit all fourteen eight-thousanders, and the sixth climber to do it without bottled oxygen.

§                     Pemba Dorjie (born c. 1977) a Sherpa who currently holds the world record for the quickest climb to the summit of Mount Everest from camp. On May 21, 2004 Dorjie set that record, with a total time of 8 hours and 10 minutes.

§                     Appa Sherpa (born c. 1960) On May 16, 2007, successfully summited Mt. Everest for the 18th time, breaking his own record for most successful ascents.

§                     Krzysztof Wielicki (born 1950) Polish mountaineer, the fifth man to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders. Three of them (Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Lhotse) he ascended as the first man ever to do it in winter.



 

 
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