This majestic peak in the Himalayas is called Machapuchare, also known as “Fish Tail Mountain.” At 22,943 feet it’s considerably less tall than Mt. Everest, but this mountain is definitely in illustrious company–legendary peaks such as Annapurna (which actually has three summits) and Manaslu, both in the “8,000-meter club,” are not far away.
Fish Tail Mountain is a sacred peak in the Hindu religion, associated with the god Shiva. Lord Shiva is supposed to live on the peak, which evidently gets is name from the shape of the summit seen from a certain angle. As one of the last places on Earth where human beings had never set foot, naturally it was a target for Western mountaineers, particularly the British, who had conquered Mt. Everest in 1953. In fact, it was a member of that expedition, one Wilfrid Noyce, who came the closest anybody ever has to the summit on a 1957 expedition. The king of Nepal had asked Noyce to respect Hindu religious customs and not set foot on the summit. He and his climbing companion, A.D.M. Cox, turned back 150 feet short of the summit.
This a view of Machapuchare taken from inside of the Annapurna Sanctuary on the approach to Annapurna Base Camp.