On October 23, French alpinists Mathieu Detrie, Pierre Labbre, Mathieu Maynadier, and Jerome Para climbed a new line to the top of the south face of Gaurishankar, a mountain honoured by both Hindus and Buddhists as one of the most holy. Its twin peaks rise from the Rolwaling Himal, along the Tibetan-Nepalese border. Its Hindi name, Gaurishankar, is a combination of the shorter south summit (Gauri; 7010m) and the north summit (Shankar; 7134m). In Hindu tradition, Gauri is the fair or golden goddess and Sankar is a manifestation of Shiva, the god of destruction. 'True to its name, Gaurishankar appears unapproachable, a giant mountain of staggering beauty but, unlike most Himalayan peaks of its size, it offers no reasonable route of ascent.
