Meili Snow Mountains

In Tibet, people usually call the mountain by its peak Kawagarbo or Taizi (Prince) Snow Mountain. In Tibetan, "Meili/Mainri" means mountains of herbs. People named the mountain "Meili/Mainri" because of the valuable herbs on this mountain. == Main Peaks ==

• Kawagarbo (6,740m) • Also called Taizi (Prince) Peak. • Mianzimu (6,054m) • Also called God Daughter (Queen) Peak. • Jiawa Ren-an (5,470.5m) • Five Budda Peak • Bujiong SongJie Wuxue (approximately 6,000m) • Also called Son Peak. • Lora Zangui Gonbu (5,229m) • The main peak of Meili Snow Mountain geographically • Bawu Bameng (6,000m) • Paba Niding Jiuzhao (5,880m) • Mabing Zhala Wangdui (6,365m) • Nairi Dingka (6,379m) • Cogar Laka (5,993m) • Zhala Queni (5,640m) • Badui (5,157m) • Zhandui Wuxue (6,400m) == History ==

Expedition Records • 1987: From August to September, the Joetsu Alpine Club abandoned their expedition to Kawagarbo due to continuous avalanches. (Height: 5,100m) Direction: Mingyong Glacier • 1990: Between November and January 1991, the previous joint expedition team made their second attempt and lost their lives in an avalanche. (Height: 6,470m) Direction: Yubeng The local people believe ascending the mountain is blasphemy and any mountaineering accidents constituted anger of the gods. After considering the local cultural perspectives and for the safety of the expedition, the local government at Deqin has forbidden further climbing activities in the Meili Snow Mountain area. • 2000, an international meeting was held between the government of Yunnan Province and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The meeting made an appeal to prohibit any climbing activities on Kawagarbo. • 2001, a law was passed by the local government that no climbing activities were to be allowed on Kawagarbo going onward. == Climate ==

Temperature The average temperature in Meili Snow Mountain Area has had a trend of increasing each year since 1990. Precipitation The precipitation has a huge trend of decreasing each year. Most of the precipitation is in summer while winter has the least. The monsoon period contributes the most to the annual precipitation. Approximately 67% of the precipitation is in the Monsoon period. Among all the observations since 1990, the precipitation in Spring has decreased by 10% in total. The amount of precipitation also has a strong correlation with the elevation. During the monsoon period, the precipitation decreases as the elevation gets lower on the west side of the mountain range. However, the precipitation raises tremendously on the east side of the mountain where the elevation is below 3,700m. Climate Change Due to the increasing trend of temperature and the decreasing trend of precipitation, the Meili Snow Mountain range is facing a huge challenge that its glacier water resource is getting scarcer annually. Protecting the environment and preventing the area from losing its water resource becomes more important each year. The environmental protection in Meili Snow Mountain could be decisive to its biome system. ==References==