Nepal or Not? - The 8000'ers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nepal

First ascended in 1953, Mount Everest is not only the tallest peak on Earth, but the most frequently-ascended of all the 8000'ers, taking numerous climbers per year all the way to the top (at a height of 8,849 metres). Found on the border between Nepal and Tibet, it's generally accessed and ascended from the Nepalese side from a series of camps.

In Tibet, the mountain is in Qomolangma National Park; in Nepal it's in Sagarmatha National Park.

Answer: Not Nepal

One of the deadliest of the 8000'ers, K2 was first ascended a year after Everest in 1954. It's the second-tallest peak in the world, but it's not in Nepal at all; it's specifically in the Karakoram range in Pakistan. K2 reaches a height of 8,610m above sea level at its peak, and even then, it was both the last to be ascended in winter and it featured one of the last major faces to be unclimbed.

In its first seventy years of ascents, nearly one in three climbers who attempted to get to the top didn't make it off the mountain alive.

Answer: Nepal

Sitting on the border between Nepal and India in the far east of Nepal, Kangchenjunga is closer to Darjeeling, India than it is Kathmandu. Topping off at 8,586m, Kangchenjunga is the third-highest peak on the planet and because of its importance to Indian myth and natural beauty, it's not climbable from Khangchendzonga National Park on that side of the border.

Its first ascent was in 1955.

Answer: Nepal

Part of the Everest Massif, Lhotse sits just southeast of Everest within spitting distance. Next to Everest, of course, the two tower over the region; Lhotse is *only* 8,516m tall. As if, right? Nonetheless, Lhotse was only ascended in 1956, three years after Everest, and not without struggle. Several faces of Lhotse are amongst the most difficult to ascend in all the 8000'ers with some being too dangerous, even after decades of advancement in gear. Along with Everest, Lhotse is on the border between Nepal and Tibet.

Answer: Nepal

Found on the border between Tibet and Nepal, Makalu is the fifth-highest peak in the world. First ascended in 1955, it was previously attempted by Sir Edmund Hillary (who is known for having ascended Everest), but he failed to reach the summit. The peak is quite the difficult one (though, obviously, all of the eight-thousanders are); Makalu was the final one of the fourteen in the group to be ascended during the wintertime, having been scaled in poor conditions in 2009.

Answer: Nepal

Sitting on the China-Nepal border, Cho Oyu is the sixth highest peak in the world and, while at 8,188 metres above sea level, is considered the easiest of the eight-thousanders to climb. Because of its less intense difficulty (it's still tough, rest assured), it's also one of the most-climbed of the world's highest. Sir Edmund Hillary was expected to climb Cho Oyu and commenced climbing one side of it in 1952; he would go on to climb Everest the following year instead.

Answer: Nepal

Considered the highest mountain in the world until more modern measurements confirmed six others to be taller, Dhaulagiri I reaches a height of 8,167m above sea level and it rises alongside the Gandaki River, one of the main rivers of Nepal, before it heads southward and becomes a tributary of the Indian holy river, the Ganges. If we were to exclude all mountains in Nepal that sit on the border with adjacent nations, Dhaulagiri I would be the tallest remaining.

Answer: Nepal

Rising to 8,163m above sea level, Manaslu is entirely within Nepal (not on any of the borders). One of the more dangerous peaks of the eight-thousanders, this one rises to sharper points and faces riskier and more temperamental weather than the others and, as such, it has a relatively high fatality rate.

While Everest was frequented early by British climbers, Manaslu was sought out by the Japanese; a team from Japan was first reach the summit in 1956.

Answer: Not Nepal

Also known by the name Diamer, Nanga Parbat is the westernmost Himalayan peak of the eight-thousanders and one of the most dangerous. It reaches 8,126m in height. First scaled in 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl, it remains a daunting climb; it wasn't scaled in winter until 2016.

The catch is that it's not in Nepal at all-- it's in Pakistan on the Indus River on the edge of the Karakoram Range.

Answer: Nepal

While many would regard the Annapurnas as a range (which it is, as a massif), this collection of Himalayan peaks includes one that tops out at 8,091m (specifically Annapurna I). This being said, it also includes numerous other peaks in the seven-thousands that dot the landscape. Annapurna I is perhaps one of the most famous of the eight-thousanders, being the first to be climbed (in 1950).

The massif and the peak became the first protected area in Nepal in 1985. This said, it's still a dangerous peak and quite prone to avalanches.

Answer: Not Nepal

The eleventh-highest peak on the planet, Gasherbrum I is part of the Gasherbrum Massif in Pakistan, and part of the Karakoram Range. The peak sits at 8,080m above sea level and it was first climbed, fully, in 1958 by a group of American climbers. Of the peaks in this region of the Himalayas, it was the fifth to be surveyed (while K2 was the second, making this, technically, K5).

Answer: Not Nepal

First climbed by a group of Austrian mountaineers (including Hermann Buhl, who summited Nanga Parbat), Broad Peak was named by a British explorer in the 19th century. Nonetheless, the mountain has little else to do with these regions of the world; it's part of the Karakoram Range and rests directly on the border between Pakistan and China.

Its height caps out at 8,051m, making it the twelfth-tallest in the world.

Answer: Not Nepal

Knowing that this mountain would also be known as K4 should be an indication that this mountain is part of the Karakorams. Found in the Gasherbrum massif, Gasherbrum II reaches 8,035m in altitude and, like Broad Peak, forms part of the Pakistan-China border between Gilgit-Baltistan on the former's side and Xinjiang on the latter's.

Answer: Not Nepal

The last of the planet's eight-thousanders, Shishapangma is entirely within Tibet and not Nepal; it's because of its location that it was the final one of the fourteen top be scaled, having been summited for the first time in 1964 by a Chinese team of climbers.

This last peak on the pile, a part of the Langtang Region, reaches a height of 8,027m. Of the next fourteen highest peaks in the world, all of them are in the Himalayas, but only four are in Nepal.