Hidesuke Taneishi, Hiroki Yamamoto make first ascent of Mt Pholesobi in Nepal

A Japanese duo comprised of Hidesuke Taneishi and Hiroki Yamamoto has made the first ascent of Pholesobi Peak (6652m) in Nepal via a direct line up the mountain's North Face. The climbers, who had attempted precisely the same line in November 2023 but were forced to turn back for health reasons, required 6 days for their very impressive alpine-style ascent. They had planned on requiring 4 days for the ascent and 1 for the descent, but actually ended up requiring 1 day longer.

Mt. Pholesobi is located in the Kangchenjunga region of Nepal and the pair acclimatised around Mera peak, using the tent site of the American and French Jannu teams. After establishing ABC at 5050m, they followed their 2023 line; 4 bivies were needed to breach the 1500m that separated them from the summit, and the pair topped out on the 31st of October at 17:00 before returning to the last bivy. The next day they descend safely down the line of ascent.

Speaking briefly to planetmountain after their climb, Taneishi explained "There was a lot more snow than last year, so we had to shovel deep to get the protection on the lower part of the rock face, which was a struggle. The conditions on the upper part were good."

As can be noted from the photographs, the mountain's North Face is incredibly steep. Taneishi commented "Yes, that's exactly right. Tents cannot be set up anywhere except in the middle section, and that’s why we used the G7 POD inflatable portaledge. Between 6200m-6600m we climbed steep walls like those on the North Face of Mt Hunter in Alaska or above Chamonix. The crux was some verglas and mixed climbing at around 6350 meters, while luckily the chimneys we saw in the distance really continued all the way to the top of the mountain!"

The pair climbed in pure alpine style and placed no bolts. "Of course" Taneishi concluded. "As always. That's the way it should be."