■ History
It was first ascended 6 May 1961 by an Indian expedition led by Capt. Mohan Singh Kohli via the Northeast Face. The summit party comprised Mohan Kohli, Sonam Gyatso, and Sonam Girmi. A Japanese Women’s expedition led by Junko Tabei succeeded in putting the first women on top on 19 May 1970.Several teams had attempted to summit Annapurna III via the southeast ridge, with all efforts prior to 2021 ending in failure. The first attempt up this ridge was in 1981 by Nick Colton and Tim Leach who reached about 1000 feet below the peak before turning around. Twice in 2010, Pete Benson, Nick Bullock and Matt Helliker unsuccessfully attempted the southeast ridge. Their first attempt started at the southeast pillar, and the second attempt started at the east ridge where the team began by flying a helicopter into basecamp to save time. In 2016, David Lama filmed a documentary of his unsuccessful attempt up the southeast ridge along with Hansjörg Auer and Alex Blümel winning the UIAA awarded the Best Climbing Film.The first successful southeast ridge ascent was made in 6th November 2021 by Mykyta Balabanov, Vyacheslav Polezhayko and Mykhailo Fomin. Before them, the route was one of unfinished challenges in the Himalayas. The route is about 2800-3000 meters on vertical face. The summit was made in bad conditions, because of strong wind. It was the second attempt by this Ukrainian expedition, their first one being in 2019.

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