Kula Kangri

Kula Kangri (also Künla Kangri) is a mountain of approximately 7,538 metres (24,731 ft) in the eastern Himalayas, on or close to the frontier between Bhutan and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. For much of the 20th century it was widely described as the highest mountain in Bhutan, but its location has long been disputed, and modern sources generally place its summit in Tibet, north of the main Himalayan watershed.^[1]

Bhutan formerly claimed Kula Kangri, but relinquished the claim in the 1980s, attributing it to a cartographic error. The mountain is consequently mapped variously as lying in Tibet or astride the border, and the question forms part of the wider history of Bhutan–China boundary negotiations. The confusion has also caused Kula Kangri to be conflated with Gangkhar Puensum, which is the highest peak located entirely within Bhutan and remains unclimbed under the country's prohibition on mountaineering above 6,000 metres.^[1]

Geography

Kula Kangri stands in the Lhozhag region of southern Tibet, near the Bhutanese border, and ranks among the higher independent summits of the Himalayas. It is considered one of the four sacred mountains of central Tibet, and is surrounded by a cluster of subsidiary peaks. Its waters drain toward both the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayan valleys, and it is sufficiently prominent to be counted among the "Ultra" peaks of the range.^[1]

Mountaineering history

Unlike the closed summits within Bhutan, Kula Kangri has been climbed. Its main summit was first reached on 21 April 1986 by a joint Japanese–Chinese expedition, which approached via the south ridge from the Tibetan side.^[2] Subsequent attempts on the mountain and its neighbouring peaks have been mounted from Tibet, and accounts of these climbs are recorded in mountaineering journals.^[3]

Because Bhutan prohibits the climbing of its highest mountains on religious and environmental grounds, the fact that Kula Kangri has been summited is itself part of the evidence that its peak lies on the Tibetan side of the frontier rather than within Bhutan. The mountain is therefore best understood as a Tibetan peak with a historic Bhutanese claim, rather than as the kingdom's highest summit.

References

1. Kula Kangri — Wikipedia
2. The Ascent of Kula Kangri from Tibet — The Himalayan Journal, vol. 43
3. Kula Kangri I (7,538m), Lhozhag Region — American Alpine Club Publications