Less than fifteen miles
north of Pokhara, as the crow flies, this
mountain is the most southerly of the
Annapurna range. From some viewpoints
it seems little more than an outlier on
the south-west flank of Machhapuchhare.
Mardi Himal is the lowest and perhaps
least climbed or visited of the trekking
peaks.
Once again it was
Col. Jimmy Roberts who, with two Sherpas,
climbed to the summit by a route on its
East Flank in 1961. The normal route of
ascent reaches a col from a glaciated
amphitheatre that rises above a hidden
plateau; the 'Other Sanctuary', as Roberts
calls it. Although another route has been
made on the south-West Face, Roberts'
route is the only recorded line and the
one used on most subsequent ascents.
Obviously, the peak has
commanding view of the Annapurna ranges
and undoubtedly a spectacular one of Machhapuchhare
the "Himalayan Matterhorn,"
better known as Fish Tail Peak. Few