Annapurna 3

Annapurna Three from Pokhara. Annapurna III is the third highest peak in the Annpurna Himal of mid-western Nepal. It was first climbed in 1961 by an Indian expedition led by Capt. Mohan Singh Kohli, via the Northeast Face. The summit party comprised Mohan Kohli, Sonam Gyatso, and Sonam Girmi. H. W. Tilman, the well-known British mountaineer and explorer, wrote in 1949: ‘Only from the broad back of the main ridge west of Annapurna II or of Annapurna IV could either of those peaks be reached, while Annapurna III bristling with gendarmes and cornices could not be reached at all.’ Col. J. O. M. Roberts, who led the Annapurna II Expedition and had circled the Annapurna range, wrote, “We looked at Annapurna III in the spring of 1960; there were some nasty ice- falls low down and we saw no obvious route. You will have to look for it.” Capt. Kohli wrote of the moment he reached the summit, “We moved up foot by foot, stopping repeatedly to suck air into our lungs. We skirted a gendarme and dragged ourselves up the last few feet to the 4 top’ only to discover to our bitter disappointment that this was a false summit. The actual summit was a small hump some 300 feet distant at the end of a mildly sloping ridge. We struggled on. Minutes later we topped the final rise and stood on the summit of Annapurna III. The time was 4.15 p.m.” Captain Mohan Singh Kohli, Himalayan Journal 25 1961 http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/annapurna-iii-1961/