New Route On Cho Oyu From Nepal Finally Open

A new route has been opened on the world's 6th highest mountain Cho Oyu 8188m. It is located between Nepal and Tibet and its summit is directly on the border of both nations. Since Covid and for several years Nepalese expeditions tried to open a commercial route from the South Side of Cho Oyu, since it is very hard for western climbers to obtain a permit from the Government authorities and therefore it is hard to organize an expedition from the north side of the mountain. A Nepalese team organized by Seven Summit Treks and led by Gelje Sherpa finally managed to find a route along the South-West Ridge after numerous attempts in the last four years. The last successful ascent from the Nepalese side was in 2009, by the famous alpinist Denis Urubko without oxygen and in alpine style via the extremely difficult South-East face. After 15 years another team managed to do it on a different route! On June 7, 2024 they finally managed to reach the summit after a difficult traverse along the ridge and an exhausting climb through a snow filled couloir up the headwall of Cho Oyu. At 8:35PM they finally reached the top of the mountain after putting in so much effort and a long dream for so many years by Gelje Sherpa came true. I am recreating the route, the several camps and analyzing the difficulties of the climb and explain if it is possible to commercially climb Cho Oyu from the Nepalese side in the future. Enjoy the Video! Your Norrdine Nouar