The first climb on Makalu was made by an American team led by Riley Keegan in the spring of 1954. The expedition was composed of
Sierra Club members including Bill Long and
Allen Steck, and was called the California Himalayan Expedition to Makalu.
First ascent Makalu was first summited on May 15, 1955, by
Lionel Terray and
Jean Couzy of a French expedition led by
Jean Franco. Franco, and
Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa summitted the next day, followed by Jean Bouvier, Serge Coupé, Pierre Leroux and André Vialatte on the 17th. This was an amazing achievement at the time, to have the vast majority of expedition members summit, especially on such a difficult peak. Prior to this, summits were reached by one to two expedition members at most, with the rest of teams providing logistical support before turning around and heading home. The French team climbed Makalu by the north face and northeast ridge, via the saddle between Makalu and Kangchungtse (the Makalu-La), establishing the standard route. An ascent without oxygen was attempted by the
1960–61 Silver Hut expedition but neither of the two attempts succeeded.
Notable ascents • 1955
North Face to Northeast Ridge FA by
Lionel Terray and
Jean Couzy of France. • 1970:
Southeast Ridge FA of ridge attempted by the Americans in 1954, • 1976 – South pillar route completed by Czechoslovak expedition (first attempt in 1973 ended shortly before Makalu South at 8010m due to the fatal fall of Jan Kounický). Route goes via south buttress to Makalu South and then via southeast ridge. Makalu South was climbed by 11 expedition members. Two of them – Karel Schubert and Milan Kriššák summited main summit together with Jorge Camprubi from Spanish expedition which climbed southeast ridge. Karel Schubert died after bivouac near the summit. • 1980: The second ascent of the
West Pillar was completed in May by
John Roskelley (summit), Chris Kopczynski, James States and Kim Momb, without Sherpa support and without bottled oxygen. • 1981: On 15 October renowned Polish climber
Jerzy Kukuczka ascended Makalu via a new route up the north-western side and north crest. Kukuczka climbed solo, in
Alpine style, without supplemental oxygen. It was the final Nepali eight-thousander to be climbed in winter. Moro had previously made the first winter ascent of
Shishapangma in winter 2005 with Pole
Piotr Morawski. • 2022:
Adrian Ballinger made the first ski descent, skiing from 15m below the summit to the foot of the glacier. ==Makalu-Barun Valley==