Lhotseल्होत्से
The world's fourth-highest peak, joined to Everest by the South Col. Its standard route follows Everest's to Camp 3, making it a frequent 'second eight-thousander' — while its unclimbed-until-1990 South Face remains one of the great walls of the Himalaya.
Height
8,516 m
World rank
#4
among the world's highest mountains
First ascent
1956
18 May 1956
District
Solukhumbu
Koshi Province
- Border
- Nepal–China (Tibet) border
- Standard route
- Lhotse Face & Reiss Couloir — shares the Everest route to Camp 3
18 May 1956
Summit party
Fritz Luchsinger & Ernst Reiss (Switzerland)
Swiss Everest/Lhotse expedition
What the record shows
Lhotse means 'South Peak' in Tibetan — it was long treated as Everest's southern satellite until recognised as a separate mountain.
Lhotse Middle (8,410 m) was the last unclimbed named 8,000 m point on Earth, first reached by a Russian team in 2001.
The 3,300 m South Face — among the steepest big walls at altitude — repelled attempts for decades and claimed Polish legend Jerzy Kukuczka in 1989; it was first climbed (disputed details aside) by Tomo Česen in 1990 and a Soviet team the same autumn.
Firsts & records
First winter ascent: 31 December 1988 — Krzysztof Wielicki (Poland), solo
Safety record
≈1,089 summits and 22 deaths by ≈2022 — a fatality rate near 2-3%, modest by 8000er standards (Himalayan Database-derived compilations).
Fatality 'rates' are summits-to-deaths ratios that shift as traffic grows — the year of each figure is stated.
Most visitors experience this region not by climbing but on foot: Nepal's trekking routes reach base camps and viewpoints beneath Lhotse without the technical risks of the summit.
The peak in context
The highlighted marker is this mountain; the others show all eight of Nepal's eight-thousanders.
Lhotse — frequently asked
How tall is Lhotse?+
Lhotse is 8,516 m high, making it the 4th-highest mountain in the world. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal on the Nepal–China (Tibet) border.
When was Lhotse first climbed, and by whom?+
Lhotse was first summited on 18 May 1956 by Fritz Luchsinger & Ernst Reiss (Switzerland), as part of the Swiss Everest/Lhotse expedition.
How dangerous is Lhotse?+
≈1,089 summits and 22 deaths by ≈2022 — a fatality rate near 2-3%, modest by 8000er standards (Himalayan Database-derived compilations).
Where is Lhotse located in Nepal?+
Lhotse sits in Solukhumbu district of Koshi Province. The standard climbing line is the Lhotse Face & Reiss Couloir — shares the Everest route to Camp 3.
Sources & data note
Profile of Lhotse compiled from the listed sources. Heights follow UIAA-accepted surveys; ascent and fatality statistics derive from Himalayan Database compilations and are dated in the text.