KAILAS climbing team member Yang Chunfeng summits Annapurna Peak

      At 8:35 AM on April 20, an exciting piece of news came from the Nepalese mountaineering base camp: KAILAS climbing team member Yang Chunfeng reached the summit of the world’s 10th highest peak—Annapurna I, standing at 8,091 meters above sea level. This also marked the 8th 8,000-meter peak conquered in Yang Chunfeng’s personal climbing career. Currently, all team members had safely descended back to the base camp by the 21st.

Annapurna Peak

      Annapurna Peak, also known as Kutang Peak, with the English name ANNAPURNA I, stands at 8,091 meters above sea level. Its geographic coordinates are 83.83° east longitude and 28.56° north latitude. As the world’s tenth highest peak, Annapurna I is the main peak of the Annapurna Mountain Range, located in northwestern Nepal, situated in the middle section of the Himalayas, in a highly remote area.

      Annapurna Peak was the first 8,000-meter peak to be summited, but that fact by no means indicates that it is an easy mountain to climb—in fact, quite the opposite. Due to frequent avalanches, it is considered one of the most difficult and treacherous peaks in the world by all climbers. For twenty years after its first successful ascent in 1950, no one else managed to reach the summit. The fatality rate of those who attempt to summit Annapurna is also among the highest of all 8,000-meter peaks: as of 2000, 106 people had reached the top, but 54 climbers never made it back down.

The unpredictable weather of Annapurna Peak

      The climate in the Annapurna region is complex and changeable, largely similar to that of Mount Everest. The first half of the year is dry and windy, constituting the dry season and wind season. The second half of the year is the rainy season, characterized by a continental plateau climate. Generally speaking, the rainy season lasts from early June to mid-September, during which strong southeast monsoons bring frequent torrential rains, causing regular ice and snow avalanches, resulting in severe conditions with heavy cloud cover and fierce snow and ice activity. From mid-November to mid-February of the following year, due to the influence of strong northwest cold currents, temperatures can drop to -60°C, with average temperatures ranging between -40°C and -50°C. Maximum wind speeds can reach 90 meters per second. Only during the transitional periods from late April to late May or from September to October do climbers have a chance of encountering 3–4 periods of good weather lasting 2–5 days each—making these times ideal for mountaineering activities. The best climbing season in the Himalayan region, including Annapurna, is spring, when good weather periods last longer, generally around two weeks. However, due to Annapurna’s remote location and the challenging, complicated approach, the mountain is only realistically accessible during September and October each year.

      As a professional climbing brand, KAILAS takes it as its mission to “actively promote the development of amateur mountaineering and exploration sports.” Since 2003, it has supported a number of public welfare projects, including the “KAILAS Outdoor Coaches Growth Program,” “KAILAS Climbing Team,” and “KAILAS Mountaineering and Exploration School,” cultivating a large number of key reserve talents for China’s mountaineering and outdoor sports. Moreover, KAILAS sponsors a variety of professional outdoor events such as mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing, and cross-country challenge races, making significant contributions to the popularization and development of mountaineering and outdoor sports in China.