Machapuchare

A 6,993-metre peak in the Annapurna sanctuary of Nepal, distinguished by a twin summit that resembles a fishtail when seen from the south. The name in Nepali means exactly that — fishtail. Machapuchare is sacred to the god Shiva, and climbing the mountain has been forbidden by the Nepalese government since 1964. The summit has never been reached.

The single attempt on the mountain was made in 1957 by a British expedition led by Wilfrid Noyce, with permission from the king of Nepal granted on the condition that the team not stand on the actual summit. Noyce and David Cox climbed to within 50 metres of the top via the North Ridge before turning back, in keeping with the agreement. The mountain was closed to all climbing the following year. The closure has held for nearly seventy years.

The technical difficulty of the upper mountain has been assessed only from photographs and the 1957 reconnaissance. The summit ridge is a corniced knife-edge between the two peaks. The west face above the sanctuary is steep ice and rock that has not been examined at close range. There is no contemporary basis to assess whether the mountain would be difficult, technical, or relatively accessible. The data does not exist.

What Machapuchare represents is a class of peaks that have been preserved through the climbing era by religious or political designation — Kailash, Kanchenjunga's true summit, Gangkhar Puensum, Nanda Devi since 1983. These mountains hold a different position in the Atlas. They are not unclimbed because they cannot be climbed. They are unclimbed because they are not for climbing. The distinction matters.