The number of climbing permits on Manaslu this season has set a new record. There are 422 foreigners, plus an even larger number of local staff on the mountain or on the way to Base Camp. Meanwhile, rope-fixers are hurrying to pave the way to the summit.
Route open to Camp 3
While the Base Camp grows with thousands of tents (it is the second largest base camp in Nepal after Everest), the Sherpa team assigned by the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) has reached Camp 3, according to EOAN Secretary Rishi Ram Bhandari. This means that the most technical part of the route, a serac area between Camp 1 and Camp 2, is ready. The altitude of Camp 3 is enough for commercial climbers to do their first (and often last) rotation before the final summit push.
The rope-fixing team currently on Manaslu. Photo: EOAN
“With the route now open up to Camp 3, operators can make the necessary preparations to move their climbers and equipment to the camps,” Bhandari told Everest News. Indeed, expedition staff is now setting up and supplying their camps with gear, food, gas, and oxygen.
At 8,163m, Manaslu is one of the lower 8,000’ers, so climbers on oxygen can attempt the summit with only one rotation above Camp 1. (The extra 700m to the top of Everest makes a huge difference.) Manaslu’s normal Northeast Ridge route usually needs four high-altitude camps.
Manaslu’s normal route. Photo: Alliance Treks
Avalanche danger
The first summits will have to wait a few more days, however. The mountain is overloaded with fresh snow after a week of precipitation, causing severe flooding in the rivers downvalley. Bhandari mentioned that the rope fixers aim to lay the ropes to the summit by September 19–20.
The weather on Manaslu was not good yesterday: it was raining at Base Camp, according to the 7 Summits Club.
Umbrellas came in handy yesterday in Manaslu Base Camp. Photo: 7 Summits Club
As far as we know, there are no expeditions off the normal route this year. There is, however, at least one small team, led by Luke Smithwick, which plans to ski down from the summit.
Luke Smithwick, center, with two members of his Manaslu ski team. Photo: Luke Smithwick/Instagram
