The northern half of Nepal is dominated by the huge peaks of the Himalayan mountain chain, the highest mountains in the world. Indeed of the fourteen mountains over 8,000 metres, eight are in Nepal.

Dhaulagiri, (8167m/26,739ft), is the world's seventh highest peak, and lies across the Kali Gandaki valley, 35km west of Annapurna. It was first climbed by the Swiss in 1960, and was the last of the eight thousand metre mountains to be climbed. The name derives from Sanskrit: dhavala means 'white' and giri is 'mountain'.