On November 14, Americans Rich Draves, Ted Hesser, and I, along with Sherpas Ang Phurba, Dawa Nurbu, Dorchi, and Tenji, made the first ascent of the southwest ridge of Peak 5,608m. Unnamed on the HMG-Finn map but called Kuirhun in Jan Kielkowski’s monograph on the Chamlang massif, this summit, located at 27°44’26.41”N, 87°1’49.00”E, lies south across the Isuwa (Iswa) Glacier from Chamlang.

Having climbed Ama Dablam shortly before, we were acclimatized and fit, which was the key. We used a helicopter to go directly from Ama Dablam base camp to the Chhayang Khola (a.k.a. Chanaute or Apsuwa Valley), south of the peak, where we made our base camp at around 4,200m.

We had to wait a couple of days while it snowed heavily, but once the skies cleared we left camp at 2:30 a.m., and about 12 hours and 1,400m later, we stood on the summit. Above the Chhayang La, the ridge rose over 400m, with difficulties from 5.6 to 5.8 and significant snow, ice, and mixed terrain. We suggest the name Khembalung for the peak, after a village south of the area that is home to all our Sherpa team.

— Garrett Madison, USA

Historical Notes on Peak 5,608m: This remote summit was first climbed on April 25, 1954, by Charles Evans, Geoff Harrow, and a Sherpa climber named Purchita. These three ascended along the northeast flank of the Chhayang Khola before climbing up to the snowy and straightforward east ridge of 5,608m and following it to the summit. Next day they made the first crossing of the Chhayang La (5,190m) to the Iswa Glacier. They did not name the peak, and the only mention of Kuirhun/Kuirhom refers to a lake well down-valley.