In an article
from the Japanese Alpine News (Future Climbing Park – Nyainbo Yuze in
Qinghai – 2014) the ever prolific Japanese explorer Tamotsu Nakamura stated
“When you stand on the high pass, Longgeshanyaku (4,398 m), you
must be overwhelmingly touched by the grandeur of numerous granite rock peaks
and pinnacles tower to the sky range after range like the teeth of a saw. It is
a really breathtaking panoramic view of the west face of Nyainbo Yuze massif,
which will be a future alpine paradise”.
Like a moth to a flame - These words and the
experience behind their author foreshadow an uncharted land, beckoning great
adventures and notable exploration.
Also
known by the Tibetan name Golog Shan (or spelled like Nyenbo Yurtse), Nyainbo
Yuze is located in the Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai; Jigzhi
County, Qinghai Province, China. This is a region between the two mountain
ranges of Amnye Machen and Bayan Har Shan.
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| Nyainbo Yuze is the peak with snow on the left. |
It
is said that Golok was once an infamous borderland of fierce and ruthless
Tibetan people, which on occasion, attacked trade caravans and even explorers.
However it is now a peaceful land with fertile pastures and magnificent
monasteries. Ximen Co Lake just north of Nyainbo is now becoming a tourist
destination and many Chinese are visiting. Nonetheless, the other area, almost
all of the massif, remains isolated and untraveled.
Although
not a high massif (sub 5,400 meters), the Nyainbo Yuze group is an extensive
collection of unclimbed granite peaks ornamented with challenging big walls and
is destined to become an alpine climbers Shangri-La. It’s almost hard for me to
believe that an area like this has gone virtually unnoticed by climbers.
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| Setting up camp bellow a peak we named 'Grant Peak' 5202meters. |
In the Fall of 2015, I traveled to this remote mountain range hungry for adventure with fellow climber, Marcos Costa. We managed two first ascents... but, the rock quality was not what we wanted; big walls indeed, but most of the larger features were cursed with friable choss. Still a fun area to explore and bag summits.
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| Marcos Costa keeping fingers strong while we waited for the rock to dry. We climbed the tower on the far right, naming it 'Mini T' 5125 meters. |
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| On the summit of Mini T |
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| Easy climbing on Grant Peak |
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| Building one of many rap anchors on Grant Peak |
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| Stoked! On the summit of Grant Peak. Nyainbo Yuze in the background. |
