The 2014 National Geographic and The North Face expedition to Hkakabo Razi did not reach the summit. The team reported a high point of 18,841 feet and turned back before the top, because going on would have meant another night in exposed terrain without adequate shelter, food, a stove, or water. Before it reached the mountain, the expedition had already been worn down by a jungle approach of roughly 130 to 150 miles, a shortage of porters, and lost equipment. On the mountain it faced mixed ice and rock, unstable snow, and a serious argument among its members. The reporting supports describing the trip as brutally hard. It does not support ranking Hkakabo Razi above Everest.
What the expedition set out to do
The expedition began in October 2014. Its six members were expedition leader Hilaree O’Neill, writer Mark Jenkins, photographer and climber Cory Richards, videographer and climber Renan Ozturk, climber Emily Harrington, and base-camp manager and video assistant Taylor Rees. The team had two goals: to attempt a new route up the mountain’s west ridge, and to take a precise GPS measurement of the peak. The measurement mattered because there was real uncertainty over whether Hkakabo Razi or Gamlang Razi was the highest peak in Southeast Asia.
Jenkins’s feature in the September 2015 issue of National Geographic describes Hkakabo Razi as a jagged massif rising out of northern Myanmar’s jungle, near the eastern edge of the Himalaya and the Tibetan border. The article also recounts the mountain’s historical measurement and its 1996 first ascent by Takashi Ozaki and Nyima Gyaltsen. The 2014 team did not complete either of its goals on the summit, so the height question remained open after the trip.
Why the approach was so hard
The approach was the first test, and in many ways the one that shaped everything after it. National Geographic reporting gives the length of the jungle approach as 130, 135, or 151 miles depending on the account, which likely reflects different route estimates. The team travelled by road, river, train, plane, and motorcycle before continuing on foot through dense jungle, gorges, muddy tracks, and swollen rivers.
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Porters and carrying capacity
Porters were difficult to find in Kachin State. O’Neill linked this to the area’s limited experience with foreign mountaineers, to the simultaneous search for missing Burmese climbers, and to the timing of the local harvest. With too few porters, the team could not carry its planned load, and it abandoned substantial amounts of gear and food along the way, including camera equipment, clothing, food, and rope. The team did not choose to travel light under good conditions; it was forced to cut its load.
Lost time and blind navigation
The team also lost days to a four-day detention in Putao, even though it held permits. Its route planning relied on satellite maps of terrain that had little exploration history. Dead ends and backtracking consumed time, energy, and supplies that the team could not replace.
The west ridge
Above the jungle, the west ridge combined several hazards at once: mixed ice and rock, steep unconsolidated snow with avalanche risk, high winds, sustained exposure, and tooth-like rock pinnacles. Limited time and a reduced load made a technical route more dangerous, because every delay and every missing item narrowed the margin for error. Picture editor Sadie Quarrier of National Geographic noted that a timely emergency rescue was unlikely because of the mountain’s remoteness, which meant the team had to make its own safety decisions without a fallback.
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Gear: what was cut, what was carried, and the rope
The equipment story is mostly a story of loss. The team could not carry the original load, so it cut equipment and food during the approach. Jenkins’s account describes the climbers using ice axes, crampons, rope, anchors, a tent, sleeping bags, and a small stove. Those items were the difference between a manageable night and a dangerous one, which is why the retreat calculation turned on the stove, the tent, and the food.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The rope shortage is the most specific documented gear problem. A National Geographic dispatch reports that the Japanese team that had previously attempted the west ridge had left about a thousand feet of rope in a village. Without enough rope to protect the ridge’s spires, that attempt ended. The Japanese climbers later gave the National Geographic team two ropes. These are facts about one expedition’s shortages, not a recommendation of any rope model or a template for an expedition loadout. For readers interested in the category, mountaineering rope is the item the story shows to be critical for protecting technical ridge sections.
The North Face is documented as a sponsor of the 2014 expedition. The reporting does not describe the team’s specific clothing or equipment choices beyond the items listed above.
The argument and the retreat
Near the summit attempt, the team argued over which climber should make the push. The dispute reflected competing hopes for a summit and the responsibility to make a safe decision after a long and exhausting trip. Jenkins later described the argument in blunt terms. Asked about it in the reporting, he said it was “ugly,” and “in many ways heartbreaking.”
The team reported a high point of 18,841 feet, then turned around. Richards put the alternative plainly: continuing from the ridge would mean that “We’d have lost digits, if not our lives.” Quarrier’s response to the outcome was the opposite of a failure narrative: “We don’t need a summit for a good story!”
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe phrase “broke” in the headline is figurative. The reporting describes physical and emotional exhaustion, a serious disagreement, and the strain of turning back from a difficult objective. It does not describe a clinical breakdown, and it does not describe a permanent rupture within the group. Jenkins’s central lesson from the trip is that “mountains are dangerous, and occasionally inflict horror and sorrow on those who dare to climb them.”
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Height figures and what they measure
Several elevations appear in the National Geographic reporting, and each measures something different. None of them is a definitive current summit height for Hkakabo Razi.
| Figure | Elevation | Source and date | What it represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team’s reported high point | 18,841 ft | Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, September 2015 | Highest point the 2014 team reached; not the summit |
| Final camp before the summit attempt | 18,200 ft (5,547 m) | National Geographic, January 2015 | Elevation of the last camp before the push |
| Historical survey figure | 19,294 to 19,296 ft | National Geographic expedition reporting, 2014 to 2015 | A 1925 British survey value; the accounts differ slightly from one another and it is not a modern GPS measurement |
| Elevation reportedly sent by the missing Burmese climbers | 18,766 ft | National Geographic expedition dispatch, 2014 | Reported before the climbers disappeared; not independently verified in the reporting |
| Gamlang Razi GPS reading | 19,258 ft | National Geographic expedition dispatch, 2014, citing Andy Tyson | A GPS elevation for the rival peak, which is why the team wanted better comparative measurements |
The expedition’s intended measuring equipment was a calibrated Juniper GPS system, as described in a National Geographic dispatch. Because the team did not reach the summit, the reporting does not contain a GPS fix on Hkakabo Razi’s highest point. The 2014 expedition therefore did not settle the question it was sent to answer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is it “tougher than Everest”?
The reporting does not contain a controlled comparison of the two mountains, and the question cannot be answered as a ranking of difficulty. It is more useful to read the headline as a question about this expedition’s conditions. The relevant comparison points are the technical terrain, altitude, approach length and duration, porter and infrastructure availability, rescue access, weather and season, and the team’s actual gear and time.
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On a few of these points, the reporting offers a contrast. O’Neill describes Everest as having an established route, porters, support services, and food infrastructure. The northern Myanmar region around Hkakabo Razi had little mountaineering infrastructure, and that difference is the main reason the approach dominated the expedition. Hkakabo’s ridge is also described as technical and exposed. Those are the strongest grounds for the headline’s claim, but they describe one team’s experience rather than a measured comparison.
What the reporting does and does not establish
- The 2014 team did not summit Hkakabo Razi and did not produce a definitive height for it.
- The jungle approach, porter shortage, and lost gear were the main logistical constraints, documented in National Geographic reporting from 2014 and 2015.
- The rope shortage on the west ridge and the gift of two ropes from the Japanese climbers are specific, documented events.
- The team’s retreat was a response to the risk of an exposed night without adequate supplies, as described by the climbers.
- The reporting is more than a decade old at the time of writing. It does not describe current permit requirements, access, security conditions in Kachin State or elsewhere in Myanmar, rescue arrangements, or the current condition of the route.
Anyone planning travel in the region would need to consult current official and expedition-operator sources, since the conditions described in this reporting are historical.
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