Hi !
I’m from Nepal, and I live near the Himalchuli mountain. Recently, I got curious about its history and tried to find out who first summited it. From what I’ve learned, a Japanese expedition team made the first successful ascent in 1960.
I also discovered that their expedition journal was published in the American Alpine Journal (around 1961, possibly titled something like “Japanese Himalayan Expedition”). The written records are available, but here’s the frustrating part: I haven’t been able to find any of the original summit photographs online.
From what I understand, these images are archived in the American Alpine Club (AAC) Library in Colorado. Unfortunately, I don’t have any way to access them from Nepal.
So this is a long shot—but if anyone here happens to visit the AAC Library at some point, would you be willing to check that journal and see if there are any photos from the Himalchuli expedition? If possible, even a few pictures taken on your phone would mean a lot to me.
This mountain is literally part of my everyday view, and it would be incredible to see those original summit images from the first ascent.