Conquering the mighty Gongga

1929: Austrian-American explorer Joseph Rock first surveys Gongga Shan, miscalculates its height to be over 9,100 meters, announces it as the highest mountain in the world. Later reduces his estimate to 7,800 meters

1932: American team with advanced survey equipment established height at 7,556 meters, two climbers (Terris Moore and Richard Burdsall) are the first to reach the summit (climbing up the Northwest ridge)

1957: Second successful ascent, Chinese team. Six reach the summit, four die during the descent

1981: A total of eight members of a Japanese team go missing after a fall on the mountain, presumed dead

2001: South Korean team makes first successful ascent of Gongga East (Mount Edgar), an outlying peak of Gongga Shan

2009: Two Americans attempt Gongga East (Mount Edgar), a third American joins the expedition to film it. Two die, likely struck by avalanche, third currently still missing

China Daily

(China Daily 06/15/2009 page10)