Namcha Barwa Himal range, runs 180 km diagonally from bottom left to top right corner, surrounded by the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra River). Naamcha Barwa peak is in the top right at the end of the range. Gyala Peri peak in the Nyenchen Tanglha Shan range is just 20 km northwest of Naamcha Barwa peak across the "Great Bend" of Yarlung Tsangpo River surrounding the Naamcha Barwa peak.
Namcha Barwa orNamchabarwa (Tibetan:གནམས་ལྕགས་འབར་བ།,Wylie:Gnams lcags 'bar ba,ZWPY:Namjagbarwa;Chinese: 南迦巴瓦峰,Pinyin:Nánjiābāwǎ Fēng) is amountain peak lying inTibet in the region ofPemako. The traditional definition of the Himalaya extending from theIndus River to theBrahmaputra would make it the eastern anchor of the entire mountain chain, and it is the highest peak of its ownsection as well as Earth's easternmost peak over 7,600 metres (24,900 ft).[3] It lies in theNyingchi Prefecture of Tibet. It is the highest peak in the 180 km longNamcha Barwa Himal range (also called the Namjagbarwasyntaxis or Namjagbarwa Group Complex), which is considered the easternmost syntaxis/section of the Himalaya in southeastern Tibet and northeastern India where the Himalaya are said to end, although high ranges (Hengduan Mountains on theChina–Myanmar border) actually continue another 300 km to the east.
Namcha Barwa is in an isolated part of southeastern Tibet rarely visited by outsiders. It stands inside theGreat Bend of theYarlung Tsangpo River as the river enters its notablegorge across theHimalaya, emerging as theSiang and becoming theBrahmaputra.[4] Namcha Barwa's sister peakGyala Peri at 7,294 metres (23,930 ft) rises across the gorge 22 kilometres (14 mi) to the north-north-west (NNW).
Namcha rises 5,000–6,800 metres (16,400–22,300 ft) above the Yarlung Tsangpo.[5][6] After 7,795-metre (25,574 ft)Batura Sar in theKarakoram was climbed in 1976, Namcha Barwa became thehighest unclimbed independent mountain in the world,[7]until it was finally climbed in 1992.
In addition to being the 27th highest mountain in the world, Namcha Barwa is the third mostprominent peak in the Himalayas afterMount Everest andNanga Parbat.[1][8]
Frank Kingdon-Ward described in the 1920s "a quaint prophecy among theKongbo Tibetans that Namche Barwa will one day fall into the Tsangpo gorge and block the river, which will then turn aside and flow over the Doshong La [pass]. This is recorded in a book by some fabulous person whose image may be seen in the littlegompa [Buddhist monastery] at Payi, inPome." (126–127)[9] (SeeBeyul for the reason behind the prophecy andPadmasambhava or anotherTertön for the "fabulous person whose image may be seen in the little gompa").[10]
Namcha Barwa was located in 1912 by British surveyors but the area remained virtually unvisited until Chinese alpinists began attempting the peak in the 1980s. Although they scouted multiple routes, they did not reach the summit.[11] In 1990 a Chinese-Japanese expedition reconnoitered the peak.[12] Another joint expedition reached 7,460 metres (24,480 ft) in 1991 but lost member Hiroshi Onishi in an avalanche.[13] The next year a third Chinese-Japanese expedition established six camps on the South Ridge over intermediate Nai Peng (7,043 metres or 23,107 feet), reaching the summit on October 30.[14]Eleven climbers reached the summit.[7]U.K.Alpine Club's Himalayan Index lists no further ascents.[15]
^Neate, Jill (1990).High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7,000 Metre Peaks. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 1–4,14–15.ISBN0-89886-238-8.
^F.M. Bailey (1914). "Exploration on the Tsangpo or upper Brahmaputra".The Geographical Journal.44 (4):341–364.JSTOR1778591.
^Namjagbarwa Mountaineering Map (1:50,000), Chinese Research Institute of Surveying and Mapping, China Mountaineering Association, 1990,ISBN7-5031-0538-0.
^Beyul are secret sacred valleys in Tibetan Buddhism, the knowledge of which is recorded on the scrolls and kept hidden in caves, monasteries, and under the rock guarded by the Buddhist monks. Valleys were blessed by the 8th century Indian monk Padmasambhava who brought Buddhism to Tibet and China. Tertön is a person who discovers or has the knowledge of these secret valleys. Padmasambhava or some other Buddhist monk is likely that person who made the prophecy.
