Pulha ri ཕུལ་ ཧ་རི་ 6320m
Pulha Ri is a prominent, lonely and beautiful peak in central Tibet. It's located close to the Friendship Highway (FH), the road which connects the Nepali capital Kathmandu and Lhasa in central Tibet. The distance from the FH isn't more than 15km the way the crow flies and on a clear day you'll have excellent views of the peak's eastern flanks. You would think the peak has been climbed numerous times because of the short approach, but in early 2008 it was still listed as unclimbed. The distance to the peak is deceptive though. Approaching from Gyatso La, one of Tibet's highest paved road passes, you have to walk in deep gorges which hosts wild rivers. I went for the peak in late winter/early spring and had to deal with numerous frozen waterfalls. In the warmer seasons my guess is that this approach is impossible due to the rivers.
Qomolongma from summit The views from the summit of Pulha Ri is extraordinary. What about the fact that you can see six of the world's 8000m peaks! In the far east the Kangchenjunga's massive bulk can be seen in the distance. Dead south Makalu's black pyramid. Lhotse the fourth highest looks like a dwarf with Qongmolongma as its closest neighbor. Further west Cho Oyu and far off in the distance Xixabangma. In addition to these giants, Pumori, Phola Gangzhen, Gang Benchhen and other 7000m peaks are clearly visible in the central Himalayan range. Lonely peaks in the 6000 category includes; Tanggla Ri, Kyakyaru Ri and Hlako/Lhakoi Kangri - all unclimbed. The peak is officially 6404m, but I had 6424m on the summit. It's also sometimes called Maphu Kangri and it's prominence is 1198m.
Technically speaking, Pulha Ri isn't a hard peak, but the route finding can be tricky. To gain access to the main east ridge is a matter of taking long detours under rock bastions of really rotten rock or climb vertically on rock or ice. The peak is full with well hidden crevasses and believe it or not but all the eastern side was full of penitentes up to a meter high. This is normally a very typical South American phenomena which sometimes also occurs at certain conditions in North America. I've never encountered it in Asia before.
www.summitpost.org/pulha-ri/401442 