Cho Oyu
Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world. The elevation of the beautiful mountain is 8188m from the sea level. The Cho Oyu in the Tibetan language means “Turquoise Goddess”. The mountain lies 20 km west of Mt Everest and is the westernmost major peak in Khumbu region.
To the west of this mountain, there is a pass that divides Khumbu and Rolwaling Himaya. The same glaciated pass is the main trading route in between Tibetan and Khumbu Sherpas. Among other eight-thousanders, this mountain is the easiest to climb due to proximity to the pass and moderate slopes of the standard northwest ridge route with the short and direct route and less technical sections. This is the reason, many mountaineers climb this mountain before they climb Mt Everest. Cho Oyu is taken as the stepping stone to summit Mt Everest. The first successful ascent to the summit of Cho Oyu was done in the year 1954 by Austrian Expedition which includes Herbert Tichy, Joseph Jöchler and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama. They summited the mountain from standard northwest ridge route.