Ama Dablam is a 6,812-metre mountain in the Eastern Himalayas of Nepal, its name meaning “mother’s charm box” in Sherpa — the long ridges resembling a mother’s protective arms and the hanging glacier the dablam, a traditional double-pendant worn by Sherpa women.
The peak dominates the eastern skyline for trekkers heading to Everest Base Camp and appears on the one-rupee Nepalese banknote. Sometimes called the “Matterhorn of the Himalayas” for its soaring ridges and steep faces, Ama Dablam was first climbed on 13 March 1961 by Mike Gill, Barry Bishop, Mike Ward and Wally Romanes via the Southwest Ridge. The team had wintered at 5,800 metres as part of Edmund Hillary’s 1960–61 Silver Hut expedition. Once considered formidable, the mountain has become the third most popular Himalayan peak for permitted expeditions, with fixed ropes now lining most of the Southwest Ridge route. Following a 2006 avalanche, climbers typically establish two camps rather than three to reduce exposure beneath the hanging glacier.
Ama Dablam features in the episode with James Ketchell, who completed the world’s longest triathlon by cycling, rowing and climbing from sea level to the summit of Everest.
