Geladaindong massif, Peak 6,543m. On October 2, 2007, a Japanese expedition made the first ascent of an unnamed 6,543m peak, a major summit in the Geladaindong massif of the Tangula Shan. The summit lies 5.4km southwest of Geladaindong (6,621m) at the head of the Gangjiaquba Glacier. Tamiyoshi Hashimoto, Osamu Kato, Yoshiharu Murakami (leader), Eishi Sato, and Mizuho Sato arrived at base camp (5,300m) below the snout of the Gangjiaquba Gla cier on the 27th. On October 2 Kato, Murakami, and Hashimoto started from their 5,700m Camp 2 in strong winds. Eventually Murakami and Hashimoto gave up fighting the wind; Kato continued alone to the top.

The Geladaindong massif, which sits roughly in the middle of the Tangula Shan, is 50km long (north-south) and 20km wide (west-east). The highest point, Geladaindong, is surrounded by more than 20 peaks higher than 6,000m, most still unclimbed. French explorer Gabriel Bonvalot came to these mountains at the source of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in 1890 and referred to them as the Dupleix Range.

Japanese first tried to negotiate a permit in 1982, but not until 1985 were they able to access the range and make the first ascent of Geladaindong, by the northwest ridge, approaching from the northeast. In 1997 an American team climbed a new route up the northeast face (55–60°).

Tamotsu Nakamura, Editor, Japanese Alpine News