Jomolhari: abode of the goddess

The sacred peak

A goddess in snow on the Tibet–Bhutan border

Rising to 7,326 m (24,035 ft) on the border of Bhutan’s Paro district and Tibet, Mount Jomolhari — also written Chomolhari — is revered as the home of the goddess Jomo, one of the Five Tsheringma Sisters. Its north face lifts more than 2,700 m above the Tibetan plains in one of the great sweeps of the Himalaya. Out of respect for the deity the summit is closed: the peak was climbed in 1937 and only a handful of times since, all from the Tibetan side.

You cannot climb Jomolhari — but you can walk to its feet. The classic Jomolhari trek crosses the western Bhutanese highlands to a base camp at Jangothang, beneath the mountain’s ice-covered east face.