Dhaulagiri,
whose name means White Mountain, is the seventh highest mountain in the
world. An enormous Himalayan massif, Dhaulagiri is located in north central
Nepal and is the highest mountain located entirely within Nepal. After its
discovery by the western world in 1808, it replaced Ecuador's Chimborazo
(20,561 ft.) as the postulated highest mountain in the world. It maintained
this standing for nearly 30 years, until the discovery of Kanchenjunga
(28,169 ft.), which was then falsely believed to be the world's highest
mountain.
Dhaulagiri's crest stretches for 30 miles, lending structure to an
otherwise tangled topography of twisting ridges, glaciers, and ice falls.
Along the main crest, several pyramid-shaped peaks rise. Four of these
summits, numbered from east to west, rise above 25,000 feet.
The First Climb To Dhaulagiri
In 1960, the Swiss/Austrian expedition
who first reached the summit did so despite their airplane having crashed
during the approach. This was the first Himalayan climb supported by an
airplane, although the plane was subsequently abandoned on the mountain.