Photos: Myanmar climbers eye Hkakabo Razi, the peak conquered only once | Hindustan Times
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Photos: Myanmar climbers eye Hkakabo Razi, the peak conquered only once

Updated On Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

A two-week jungle trek followed by a sheer climb up avalanche-prone slopes to a jagged ridge of icy pinnacles awaits three Myanmar mountaineers planning to take on Hkakabo Razi, a peak so treacherous it has been conquered only once. Believed to be the highest in Southeast Asia, the mountain stands at an estimated 5,881 metres in the northern tip of Myanmar near the border with China and India, a Himalayan cap of the largely tropical nation. All summit attempts since the first, have invariably ended in disaster.

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Myanmar mountaineers ascend Ama Dablam mountain in Nepal, in preparation for an expedition to Hkakabo Razi on the northern tip of Myanmar near the border with China and India. A two-week jungle trek followed by a sheer climb up avalanche-prone slopes to a jagged ridge of icy pinnacles awaits three men planning to take on this peak so treacherous it has only been conquered once. (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Myanmar mountaineers ascend Ama Dablam mountain in Nepal, in preparation for an expedition to Hkakabo Razi on the northern tip of Myanmar near the border with China and India. A two-week jungle trek followed by a sheer climb up avalanche-prone slopes to a jagged ridge of icy pinnacles awaits three men planning to take on this peak so treacherous it has only been conquered once. (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP)

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Myanmar climber Aung Khaing Myint (C) coils a rope as Zaw Zin Khine (R) prepares gear for rock climbing training at a gym in Yangon. The three climbers, now waiting for the right window in the weather to start their expedition, have been in intensive training for months, including a trip to Nepal and sessions in a Yangon gym, wearing masks to simulate low-oxygen levels at altitude. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Myanmar climber Aung Khaing Myint (C) coils a rope as Zaw Zin Khine (R) prepares gear for rock climbing training at a gym in Yangon. The three climbers, now waiting for the right window in the weather to start their expedition, have been in intensive training for months, including a trip to Nepal and sessions in a Yangon gym, wearing masks to simulate low-oxygen levels at altitude. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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Aung Khaing Myint preparing gear for rock climbing training. Believed to be the highest in Southeast Asia, the mountain stands at an estimated 5,881 metres. But it is the challenging climb itself that has thwarted nearly all of the handful of attempts to reach the summit, one of which resulted in a deadly rescue attempt. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Aung Khaing Myint preparing gear for rock climbing training. Believed to be the highest in Southeast Asia, the mountain stands at an estimated 5,881 metres. But it is the challenging climb itself that has thwarted nearly all of the handful of attempts to reach the summit, one of which resulted in a deadly rescue attempt. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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“The difficulty level of the mountain is extreme,” Zaw Zin Khine, 32, told AFP during a break from a training session on a limestone karst cliff. The team will have to negotiate precipitous faces of loose scree, frequent avalanches and a choice between ridges spiked with towers of rock and shrouded in snow and ice. “There is a risk we won’t come back alive,” the climber added. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

“The difficulty level of the mountain is extreme,” Zaw Zin Khine, 32, told AFP during a break from a training session on a limestone karst cliff. The team will have to negotiate precipitous faces of loose scree, frequent avalanches and a choice between ridges spiked with towers of rock and shrouded in snow and ice. “There is a risk we won’t come back alive,” the climber added. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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He and his two partners Pyae Phyo Aung, 36, and Aung Khaing Myint, 32, aspire to make history as the first all-Myanmar team to summit the mountain. They also hope to settle a decades-long dispute over whether Hkakabo Razi or the nearby Gamlang Razi -- also in Myanmar -- claims the honour as the region’s highest. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

He and his two partners Pyae Phyo Aung, 36, and Aung Khaing Myint, 32, aspire to make history as the first all-Myanmar team to summit the mountain. They also hope to settle a decades-long dispute over whether Hkakabo Razi or the nearby Gamlang Razi -- also in Myanmar -- claims the honour as the region’s highest. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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Pyae Phyo Aung is one of only two people from Myanmar to have summited Everest but he says Hkakabo Razi’s isolation and lack of infrastructure makes it far more perilous. The first known attempt to scale it was by British explorer and botanist Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1936. In his book “Burma’s Icy Mountains”, he describes how the peak “utterly defeated” him, forcing him to turn back a vertical kilometre below the top. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Pyae Phyo Aung is one of only two people from Myanmar to have summited Everest but he says Hkakabo Razi’s isolation and lack of infrastructure makes it far more perilous. The first known attempt to scale it was by British explorer and botanist Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1936. In his book “Burma’s Icy Mountains”, he describes how the peak “utterly defeated” him, forcing him to turn back a vertical kilometre below the top. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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Pyae Phyo Aung leads a route during training. It took another 60 years before Japanese mountaineer Takashi Ozaki and his Myanmar climbing partner Nyima Gyaltsen prevailed on their third attempt. Two expeditions in 2014 both met with failure. One local team never returned, and a rescue helicopter crashed, killing one pilot. The other ill-fated ascent is the subject of a National Geographic documentary. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Pyae Phyo Aung leads a route during training. It took another 60 years before Japanese mountaineer Takashi Ozaki and his Myanmar climbing partner Nyima Gyaltsen prevailed on their third attempt. Two expeditions in 2014 both met with failure. One local team never returned, and a rescue helicopter crashed, killing one pilot. The other ill-fated ascent is the subject of a National Geographic documentary. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

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This year’s organisers are preparing for anything. Tycoon Tay Za, who was behind both the 2014 failed attempts and the successful ascent of Everest, is bankrolling this venture, which is expected to take around two months. The climbers will have a five-member support team and some 70 porters to help -- compared to 25 last time -- as well as several rescue helicopters on stand-by. (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

This year’s organisers are preparing for anything. Tycoon Tay Za, who was behind both the 2014 failed attempts and the successful ascent of Everest, is bankrolling this venture, which is expected to take around two months. The climbers will have a five-member support team and some 70 porters to help -- compared to 25 last time -- as well as several rescue helicopters on stand-by. (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP)

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Aung Khaing Myint (R), Zaw Zin Khine (C), and Pyae Phyo Aung (L) during their ascent of Ama Dablam mountain in Nepal. “If we complete this, we can be proud Myanmar citizens,” Zaw Zin Khine said. He also hopes they will inspire more climbers in a country that only boasts a few dozen enthusiasts. “We plan to plant the nation’s flag with our own hands at the summit.” (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP) expand-icon View Photos in a new improved layout
Updated on Aug 15, 2018 01:08 PM IST

Aung Khaing Myint (R), Zaw Zin Khine (C), and Pyae Phyo Aung (L) during their ascent of Ama Dablam mountain in Nepal. “If we complete this, we can be proud Myanmar citizens,” Zaw Zin Khine said. He also hopes they will inspire more climbers in a country that only boasts a few dozen enthusiasts. “We plan to plant the nation’s flag with our own hands at the summit.” (Hkakabo Razi Expedition 2018 / AFP)

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