In May and June 2005 I undertook two treks over a six-week period, the objective being to expand on the exploration and reporting of Tom Nakamura. During these journeys I climbed a couple of small peaks above 5,000m, but more important took a large number of photos on specific bearings. I uploaded my GPS data and photos to Google Earth, where a bird’s eye view of my travels, including road access, is visible. There is a link in the AAJ web report.

While the big peaks of the Yangmolong Massif more than deserve the attention they receive, there are interesting peaks of a lesser scale. These can be found southwest, southeast, and northeast of Yangmolong Pasture. I climbed a twin-summited rock peak to the southwest, via a snow couloir leading to the col between the two summits, both of which I visited. The northwest summit was 5,213m (30°01'34.3" N, 99°17'22.5"E), while the southeast registered 5,177m (30°01'34.7" N, 99°17'27.7"E).

In the Jarjinjabo-Xiashe region, several interesting peaks, sitting in the depths of various valleys branching off from Zhopu Pasture, have escaped the limelight. Notable are those rising to 5,725m in a valley southeast of the highest Jarjinjabo summit, Garrupunsum.

Paul Kiernan