Dhaulagiri, whose name means White Mountain, is the seventh highest mountain in the world. An enormous Himalayan massif, Dhaulagiri is located in north central Nepal and is the highest mountain located entirely within Nepal. After its discovery by the western world in 1808, it replaced Ecuador's Chimborazo (20,561 ft.) as the postulated highest mountain in the world. It maintained this standing for nearly 30 years, until the discovery of Kanchenjunga (28,169 ft.), which was then falsely believed to be the world's highest mountain.

Dhaulagiri's crest stretches for 30 miles, lending structure to an otherwise tangled topography of twisting ridges, glaciers, and ice falls. Along the main crest, several pyramid-shaped peaks rise. Four of these summits, numbered from east to west, rise above 25,000 feet.

The First Climb To Dhaulagiri
In 1960, the Swiss/Austrian expedition who first reached the summit did so despite their airplane having crashed during the approach. This was the first Himalayan climb supported by an airplane, although the plane was subsequently abandoned on the mountain.