Kanchenjunga expedition (1905)

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The 1905 Kanchenjunga expedition was a Himalayan mountaineering expedition up Kanchenjunga, a peak easily accessible at the time. Higher attempts were in areas cut off politically or geographically.

The party consisted of :

• Aleister Crowley
• Jules Jacot-Guillarmod
• Alexis Pache
• Charles-Adolphe Reymond
• Alcesti C. Rigo de Righi

and various head-men, cooks, post-men and porters.

It was led by Aleister Crowley, but four members of that party were killed in an avalanche. Some claims say they reached around 21,300 feet before turning back, however Crowley's autobiography claims they reached about 25,000 feet.

The only reason that Crowley had agreed to the Kanchenjunga expedition was to be able to make an attempt on the only mountaineering record that he or his climbing partner, Oscar Eckenstein, did not hold, and one which he was desperate to capture, that of being the highest man on a mountain. The record up until this time had been held by either William Woodman Graham on Kabru (a claim that was contested by jealous rivals) or Matthias Zurbriggen on Aconcagua.