Most of the world's very high mountains — including Everest — have been climbed many times by teams of people from all over the globe. Gangkhar Puensum is different. Bhutan decided that mountains above 6,000 metres should stay unclimbed, partly to protect the wild environment and partly to respect traditions that see high peaks as special places. That makes Gangkhar Puensum unique: a truly unconquered summit.
The mountain sits in an extremely remote part of Bhutan near the border with China. The area around it is almost entirely wilderness — glaciers, frozen lakes, rocky ridges and meadows of alpine flowers that bloom in summer. Snow leopards and Himalayan wolves have been spotted in the foothills. Almost no one lives nearby, so the mountain is genuinely wild.
Gangkhar Puensum's name means something like 'white peak of the three spiritual brothers' in Dzongkha. The three separate summits of the mountain — all thickly covered in snow and ice — do look like three figures standing together against the blue sky. Because no person has ever stood on its highest point, Gangkhar Puensum is something rare in today's world: a place that still holds a mystery.