The Sacred Nepal Peak No One Is Allowed to Climb — Even Though a Team Got Within 150 Feet

Records & People Machapuchare has stood unclimbed since 1957, not because the summit is out of reach, but because Nepal decided some mountains should stay untouched. By Dawa Sherpa · Jul 20, 2026 Read the full story

In 1957, two British climbers stood roughly 150 feet below the top of a Himalayan peak — closer to a summit most people will never see up close in their lives — and then turned around and climbed back down. They had permission to go no further. Nearly seventy… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

How close anyone has come

The story starts with a British expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Roberts — the same Roberts often credited with inventing commercial trekking in Nepal. Climbers Wilfrid Noyce and A. D. M. Cox worked their way up the north ridge and reached an… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Smaller than its neighbours, and still untouched

What makes the ban notable is that Machapuchare isn't even one of Nepal's giants. It sits thousands of metres below its 8,000 m neighbours — yet those peaks have been climbed hundreds of times each, while Machapuchare has zero confirmed legal ascents: Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Why the mountain stays closed

The reason isn't technical difficulty — it's the mountain's meaning. For the Gurung communities of Chomrong and the wider Annapurna region, Machapuchare is believed to be the home of Shiva, and its double summit (the source of its "fish tail" name) is treated… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Where to see it without a permit

What this means for trekkers You don't need a permit to see Machapuchare — you need a decent vantage point. It dominates the skyline on the Annapurna Base Camp trek, is the signature view from Mardi Himal Trek's high camp, and looms directly above Ghandruk… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

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