{{short description|Mountain in Nepal}} {{about|a mountain}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Machapuchare | native_name ={{native name|gvr|कतासुँ क्लिको}} | other_name = Machhapuchhre (Fishtail Mountain) | image = Machapuchare close-up of summit ridge.jpg | image_caption = Machapuchare from near [[Chhomrong]] | elevation_m = 6993 | elevation_ref = <ref name=pb>{{cite peakbagger|pid=10626|name=Machapuchare}}</ref> | prominence_m = 1,233 | prominence_ref= <ref name=pb/>
| language = | range = Annapurna Himalayas | location = North Central [[Nepal]] | map = Nepal | range_coordinates = | map_caption = Location in Nepal | map_size = | label_position = right | coordinates = {{coord|28|29|42|N|83|56|57|E|type:mountain_region:NP_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = | first_ascent = Unclimbed (ascents not allowed) | easiest_route = }} '''Machapuchare''', '''Machhapuchchhre''' or '''Machhapuchhre''' ({{etymology|Nepali|माछापुच्छ्रे|fishtail}}, [[Gurung language|Tamu]]: कतासुँ क्लिको), is a [[mountain]] situated in the [[Annapurna]] [[massif]] of [[Gandaki Province]], north-central [[Nepal]]. Its highest peak has never been officially climbed due to the impossibility of gaining a permit from the [[government of Nepal]].
==Location== Machapuchare is at the end of a long spur ridge, coming south out of the main backbone of the Annapurna massif, which forms the eastern boundary of the [[Annapurna Sanctuary]]. The peak is about {{convert|25|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of [[Pokhara]], the provincial capital of the [[Gandaki Province]]. The sanctuary is a favorite trekking destination, and the site of the base camps for the South Face of Annapurna and many other named and unnamed peaks.
==Notable features== Due to its southern position in the range and the particularly low terrain that lies south of the Annapurna Himalayas, which contains three of the 10 highest peaks in the world, Machapuchare commands tremendous vertical relief in a short horizontal distance. This, combined with its steep, pointed profile, makes it a particularly striking peak, despite its lower elevation than some of its neighbors. Its [[double summit]] resembles the tail of a fish, hence the name meaning "fish's tail" in [[Nepali language|Nepalese]]. It is also nicknamed the "[[Matterhorn]] of Nepal".
It is a sacred peak for the [[Gurung people|Gurungs]] and the people of Chomrong.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vallangi|first=Neelima|title=The Himalayan peak off limits to climbers|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210216-the-himalayan-peak-off-limits-to-climbers|access-date=2021-02-22|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}</ref> The mountain is said to be sacred as a home to the god [[Shiva]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honeyguideapps.com/blog/machhapuchhre-a-mountaineering-mecca-or-just-a-proud-monument|title=Mt. Machhapuchhre: Should it be opened for climbing?|date=2015-07-30|website=HoneyGuide|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-30}}</ref>
==Climbing history== [[File:Machhapuchree During ABC Trek.jpg|thumb|Machapuchare seen on the way to Annapurna Base Camp]] It is believed that Machapuchare has never been climbed to the summit. The only confirmed attempt was in 1957 by a British team led by Lieutenant Colonel [[J O M Roberts|Jimmy Roberts]]. Climbers [[Wilfrid Noyce]] and [[David Cox (historian and mountaineer)|A. D. M. Cox]] climbed to within {{convert|150|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} of the summit via the north ridge,<ref>{{cite journal | title = Climbing the Fish’s Tail | journal =Alpine Journal| date= 1957| first =Wilfred | last = Noyce | issn= 0065-6569 |volume =#62 |issue = 294 | pages=113-120 | access-date =16 November 2024 |url = https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1957_files/AJ62%201957%20113-120%20Noyce%20Fish%27s%20Tail.pdf }}</ref> to an approximate altitude of {{convert|22,793|ft|abbr=on}}. [[Mahendra of Nepal|King Mahendra]] had given them permission to climb the mountain but forbade them from stepping foot on the summit itself, terms with which the team complied. Noyce and his team compiled and published the only climbing record of the mountain a year later.<ref name=chessler/> Early in the expedition another member of the party, [[Roger Chorley, 2nd Baron Chorley|Roger Chorley]], contracted [[polio]]; with help from Jimmy Roberts he left the expedition to seek medical assistance.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Asia, Nepal, Machapuchare | journal =American Alpine Journal| date=1958| first =Wilfrid | last = Noyce | issn= 0065-6925 |volume =#11 |issue =32 | pages= 118-120 | access-date = 12 September 2024 |url = http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12195811800/Asia-Nepal-Machapuchare }}</ref>
No permits to climb the mountain have been issued since then, but there are reports of a [[New Zealand]] climber, [[Bill Denz]], illegally but successfully reaching the summit in the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/8893/the-untouched-holy-mountain-of-nepal|title=The Untouched Holy Mountain of Nepal|last=AnOther|date=2016-07-22|website=AnOther|language=en|access-date=2019-10-30}}</ref>
==Sources== * {{cite book|first1=Andy|last1=Fanshawe|first2=Stephen|last2=Venables|title=Himalaya Alpine Style|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1995}} * {{cite book|first=Koichiro|last=Ohmori|title=Over The Himalaya|publisher=Cloudcap Press/The Mountaineers|year=1994}}
==References== <references> <ref name=chessler>{{Cite book|title=Climbing the fish's tail|last=Noyce|first=Wilfrid|publisher=[[Pilgrims Book House]]|year=1998|isbn=978-8173031007|language=en|oclc=857085947|author-link=Wilfrid Noyce|orig-year=1958 | url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3112 | access-date = 12 September 2024}}</ref> </references>
== External links== {{Commons and category}} * [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150279/machhapuchare.html Machapuchare on Summitpost] * [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/worlds-most-beautiful-mountains/ The world's 19 most staggeringly beautiful mountains] ''The Telegraph'', April 2018.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Machapuchare}} [[Category:Mountains in Hinduism]] [[Category:Six-thousanders of the Himalayas]] [[Category:Mountains of Gandaki Province]] [[Category:Sacred mountains of Nepal]]