Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world. Its long east-west crest is located immediately to south of Everest, and the summits of the two mountains are connected by the South Col, a vertical ridge that never drops below 8,000 meters. The summit of Lhotse East or Middle (8,414m) is situated on the ridge between the main summit of Lhotse Shar 8,400m. Any separate ascents up to this summit are practically excluded because of the steep walls and very crossed relief. It is possible to summit only by climbing up to main Lhotse or Lhotse Shar before and the make a traverse of a very crossed ridge with a length of about 1,000 meters the lowest of the three Lhotse summits.