Api is the highest peak in the Yoka Pahar Section of Gurans Himal, part of the Himalayas in the extreme northwest corner of Nepal, near the border with Tibet.^{[3][failed verification]} It is a little-known peak in a rarely visited part of the Himalayas, but it rises dramatically over the low surrounding terrain.^{[citation needed]}

Although low in elevation among the major mountains of Nepal, Api is exceptional in its rise above local terrain; the surrounding valleys are significantly lower than those surrounding most higher Himalayan peaks.^{[4][failed verification]}

Api peak's south face rises 3,300 metres (10,830 ft) above its base.^[5]

The Api region was visited by Westerners in 1899, 1905 and 1936, but the peak was not attempted until 1953 on a visit by W. H. Murray a Scottish Mountaineer with John Tyson. This attempt was unsuccessful, as was another, by Italians, in 1954 which resulted in the death of two expedition members.^[6]

The first ascent of Api occurred in 1960. The Doshisha Alpine Society of Japan successfully completed the Northwest Face route attempted by the 1954 party.^[6][7]

In 1980, a British Army Mountaineering Association expedition made an attempt to climb the peak by the south face reaching within a few hundred metres of the summit.^[5]

On 24 December 1983, Polish climbers Tadeusz Piotrowski and Andrzej Bieluń made the first winter ascent. Bieluń had reached the summit first alone but did not return to camp.^[7]

The Himalayan Index lists three more ascents of the peak, in 1978, 1996, and 2001.^[2]