While crowds gather at Everest Base Camp, Alexandr Moroz and Mark Ablovacky of Kyrgyzstan are completely alone on Manaslu. They are climbing it in light style with no base camp, ropes, or Sherpa support. The climbers describe it as “almost-alpine style.”
In the fall, Manaslu is as popular as Everest, but at present, they have the only permit so far for the 8,163m peak.
“We dropped off our gear at Base Camp, then proceeded on our own,” they explained. “We are carrying everything up and down the mountain ourselves, which is an interesting experience.”
On their first rotation, the climbers have reached 6,100m in the serac area between the usual locations of Camp 1 and Camp 2.
“We found old ropes hanging in the air like ziplines, and didn’t have time to find a way across the icefall, as large amounts of wet snow, waist-deep in some places, slowed us down,” they said.
Too hot
The climbers said the unusually high temperatures are the main obstacle to progress. In addition to the slow going, the wet snow increases the avalanche risk, so they are moving carefully. “I hope it gets colder so conditions get safer, and hopefully I can use my backcountry skis,” Moroz said.
Aleksandr Moroz on Ama Dablam. Frame of a video by Mark Ablovacky
Otherwise, the climbers are enjoying the solitude and the wild landscape. “Spring is the off-season, so there’s no one on the mountain, there are no new fixed ropes, ladders, or trails, or porters,” Moroz reported today. “We’ll see what we can do in the end, but anyway, we’re happy to be on this mountain in the way we are.”
Off-season experts
Moroz and Ablovacky are experts at choosing difficult, lonely goals during the Himalayan climbing seasons. In the fall of 2024 (when Manaslu was crowded), the pair achieved a rare repetition of the American Direct route on Ama Dablam, opened by Glen Dunmire and Chris Warner in 1990.
In these times of crowded routes and little adventure on the 8,000’ers, the off-season ascents are an interesting option for small teams of alpinists willing to experience the highest mountains on Earth in all their hardship.
Denis Aleksenko and Artem Tsentsevitsky of Russia set another recent example of this. Last fall, they attempted Makalu in the same style that Moroz and Ablovacky are now doing on Manaslu. The Russians were completely alone on the mountain and attempted a remarkable climb in tough conditions, but were finally unable to reach the summit. So it goes in real alpinism.
