Yalung Kang

Yalung Kang
Yalungkar, Kangchenjunga West
Yalung Kang (leftmost peak) from the south face of the Kangchenjunga massif
Highest point
Elevation8,505 m (27,904 ft)
Prominence135 m (443 ft)
Parent peakKangchenjunga
Isolation1.16 km (0.72 mi)
ListingList of mountains in Nepal
Coordinates27°42′19″N 88°08′09″E / 27.705298°N 88.135968°E / 27.705298; 88.135968
Geography
16km
9.9miles
Bhutan
Nepal
Pakistan
India
China
45
The major peaks (not mountains) above 7,500 m (24,600 ft) height in Himalayas, rank identified in Himalayas alone (not the world).
LocationTaplejung District, Koshi Province, Nepal
Parent rangeHimalayas
Climbing
First ascentMay 14,1973 by Yutaka Ageta and Takao Matsuda

Yalung Kang (Yalungkar or alternatively Kangchenjunga West) is a 8,505 m high minor summit of the Kangchenjunga massif found in the Himalayan range.

The peak lies 1.16 km (0.72 mi) west of Kanchenjunga's main summit in Taplejung, Nepal. The mountain range continues west to the final subsidiary peak of the massif, Kangbachen.

While Yalung Kang has long been recognized by geographers to be over 8,000 m, there has been hesitation to consider Yalung Kang the 15th eight-thousander. At 8,505 m (27,904 ft) high, Yalung Kang would be the fifth highest mountain on earth if it were an independent peak, only eleven meters shorter than Lhotse.

In 2014, Nepal officially recognized Yalung Kang as an independent peak and opened it for climbing.

Despite Nepal's recognition, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) refuses to recognize Yalung Kang as an independent peak. Its lack of recognition as an independent peak has led Yalung Kang to be scarcely climbed when compared to Kangchenjunga's central summit.

As of 2024, there have been only 22 recorded expeditions to Yalung Kang, compared to 201 on Kanchenjunga, according to the Himalayan Database. 12 of these have had successful summits, and five expeditions have experienced a fatality (22%), making it the most dangerous of the Kangchenjunga peaks.