Gurla Mandhata, or Naimona'nyi or Memo Nani(Chinese: 納木那尼峰) is the highest peak of the Nalakankar Himal, a small subrange of the Himalaya. It lies in Burang County of the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near the northwest corner of Nepal. It is the 34th highest peak in the world (using a 500 metre prominence cutoff). It is also notable for being well within the Tibetan Plateau (most peaks of similar height - except notably Shishapangma, the world's 14th highest peak - lie nearer to or outside the edge of the Plateau) and relatively far away from other peaks of height greater than 7500 metres. It sits roughly across Lake Manasarowar from the sacred peak of Mount Kailash. The Tibetan name, Naimona'nyi, is said to come from naimo = "herbal medicine", na = "black", nyi = "heaped-up slabs", giving "the mountain of heaped-up slabs of black herbal medicine.".
In 1905 T. G. Longstaff, accompanied by two alpine guides and six porters, made an attempt on Gurla Mandhata. They turned back at around 7,000 m (23,000 ft) after being caught in an avalanche and encountering other difficulties. This was a strong achievement for the time, especially for such a small group; at that time no summit of over 7,000 m had yet been climbed and Longstaff's height represented a world altitude record.
Gurla Mandhata, or Naimona'nyi or Memo Nani(Chinese: 納木那尼峰) is the highest peak of the Nalakankar Himal, a small subrange of the Himalaya. It lies in Burang County of the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near the northwest corner of Nepal. It is the 34th highest peak in the world (using a 500 metre prominence cutoff). It is also notable for being well within the Tibetan Plateau (most peaks of similar height - except notably Shishapangma, the world's 14th highest peak - lie nearer to or outside the edge of the Plateau) and relatively far away from other peaks of height greater than 7500 metres. It sits roughly across Lake Manasarowar from the sacred peak of Mount Kailash. The Tibetan name, Naimona'nyi, is said to come from naimo = "herbal medicine", na = "black", nyi = "heaped-up slabs", giving "the mountain of heaped-up slabs of black herbal medicine.".
In 1905 T. G. Longstaff, accompanied by two alpine guides and six porters, made an attempt on Gurla Mandhata. They turned back at around 7,000 m (23,000 ft) after being caught in an avalanche and encountering other difficulties. This was a strong achievement for the time, especially for such a small group; at that time no summit of over 7,000 m had yet been climbed and Longstaff's height represented a world altitude record.