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'Amne Machin' (or 'Anye Machin') is one of the highest peak of a mountain range named 'Amne Machin Shan' (A'nyêmaqên Shan) and located in west-central China (province of Qinghai). The Amne Machin mountains belong to the Kunlun Shan, a major mountain system in Asia. The peak elevation is estimated to 20,610 feet (6,282 meters). It is ranked # 23 among the highest mountain peaks of China.

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History

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History

The massif remained unclimbed until 1949. The Amne Machin mountains were only overflown by a few American pilots who overestimated the elevation to 30,000 feet. A 1930 article of the National Geographic estimated the peak elevation to 28,000 feet according to the report of Joseph Rock, an american botanist and explorer. For a while, the mountains were considered as a possible place for a peak higher than Mount Everest. In 1949, a Chinese expedition climbed the mountain but it was demonstrated in 1980 that this expedition didn't climb the right peak. The Amne Machin peak was first climbed in 1981 by a U.S. expedition (the first foreign expedition authorized by the Chinese government). Galen Rowell, Harold Knutsen and Kim Scmitz reached the summit successfully and reported its true elevation to be 20,610 feet.

External links

★ Time magazine from 1948 about the Amne Machin mountains

★ Google map satellite view of the Amne Machin mountains