The Fourteen 8000ers

All fourteen of the world’s mountains that rise above the mystical 8000 metre altitude are located in Asia. Ten lie along the Himalayan range, from Kanchenjunga in eastern India, stretching west through Nepal and Tibet and finally to Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. The remaining four are found approximately 100kms north of Nanga Parbat in the Karakorum range on the border of Pakistan and China.

Known as the ‘death zone’, the 8000 metre altitude places extraordinary demands on the human body. With an atmospheric pressure approximately one third of that at sea level, the body is literally starved of oxygen. Given the multi-month nature of high altitude expeditions, this lack of oxygen has serious physical and cognitive impacts. Hearts race at up to 200 beats per minute for hours on end, the air is extremely dry and very cold, causing throat infections and perpetual coughing, the brain is starved of oxygen and must operate in a virtual fog with constant headaches. And all of this whilst climbing mountains that reach to heights at which jet aircraft cruise.

With basecamps located around the 4000 to 5000 metre mark, ascents of up to, or more than, four vertical kilometres are required. Climbers must acclimatise for weeks on end, just so that they may ascend briefly into these altitudes to steal a few precious minutes on a lofty summit. Climbing an 8000er is a major undertaking, putting one’s life at serious risk and requiring exceptional motivation, fitness, teamwork, skill, perseverance and patience.

Generally an expedition to an 8000 metre peak will take a minimum of two months duration. Andrew Lock has become the first Australian to climb all fourteen of the world’s 8000ers, a feat which at the time of writing less than 30 people have achieved.

Reaching the summit of Everest took Andrew three attempts. Twice, helping a friend to safety had to come before finally reaching the summit.

K2 was the first of Andrew’s successful 8000 metre ascents, and made for one of the most riveting, inspiring stories in Australian mountaineering.

“…he pushed on, and with his team mates reached the summit a little before dusk in ever worsening conditions. There followed one of the most harrowing descents in alpine…”

Andrew managed two 8000m peaks in one expedition climbing Lhotse, which lies next to Everest, directly after Manaslu setting yet another Australian mountaineering record.

The climb to the summit was a mixture of steep rock and ice and was a race against time as bad weather threatened. Makalu become Andrew’s penultimate summit.

Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world at 8,201 metres. Cho Oyu means “Turquoise Goddess” in Tibetan. It is the most frequently climbed 8,000m peak.

Stopping on top just long enough to take one miserable photograph, the descent became a battle for survival, searching for the route, buried camps and the strength to carry on. Only Andrew survived the descent without frostbite injury despite having to climb alone and without a head torch.

Manaslu has become renowned for big avalanches and a summit plateau that is frequently swamped in thick cloud. Andrew reached the summit on a bitterly cold morning early in the season, making the first ascent of an 8000 metre peak for the entire Himalaya that season and achieving the first ever Australian ascent of the peak.

Broad Peak, also known as K3, is the 12th highest mountain on Earth, with an elevation of 8,051 meters.