Tobias Pantel of The Himalayan Database has put Mingma G’s summit of Manaslu in historical context.
“Yesterday was the first time people stood on the summit since Guy Cotter et al in spring 2012,” Pantel told ExplorersWeb.
Since then, every other Manaslu climber has only reached a foresummit.
However, contrary to Mingma’s G’s belief, this was not the first autumn summit of Manaslu. “The real summit was climbed in autumn once before, in 1976,” Pantel added.
He is referring to an Iranian-Japanese expedition that on October 12, 1976, put Jun Kageyama, J. M. Assadi, and Pasang Sherpa atop Manaslu.
Photo: Jackson Groves/journeyera.com
A remarkable drone image by photographer-climber Jackson Groves, posted on Instagram, shows the summit ridge of Manaslu like never before. In it, a group of climbers, perhaps Mingma G’s Imagine Nepal clients, cluster near a foresummit. Meanwhile, Mingma G and another unidentified climber make a dizzying traverse well below them. They are heading to where they can climb up without having to negotiate the unstable, dipping arete between the last foresummit and the summit.
