OVERVIEW :
Cho Oyu 8201m was first climbed by Austrians in 1954. It is about 30 km west of Everest at the head of the Gokyo valley. The mountain was reconnoitered during the 1951 Everest reconnaissance, and a British team led by Eric Shipton attempted the peak in 1952. The first ascent was made via the north-west ridge using a route through Tibet from the Nangpa La – not strictly a legal route. An Indian expedition made the second ascent in 1958 and a German ski expedition made the third ascent in 1964. By 2011 a total of 146 expeditions had been made on Cho Oyu.