Most international climbers are expected to arrive at Manaslu during the second week of September. In the meantime, Nepal’s mountaineering industry has come up with a new system to fix the ropes as quickly as possible.
A strong Sherpa team directly hired by the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) is on the way to Manaslu. They intend to fix the ropes and prepare the entire route by September 20.
“We have formed a seven-member rope-fixing team composed of some of the best climbing guides, who will be responsible for opening the route,” Dawa Sherpa Lama, EOAN Treasurer, told the Everest Chronicle.
Tashi Sherpa will lead the team, which also includes Tshering Bhote, Lakpa Sherpa, Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, Hira Bhote, Pasang Sherpa, and Karma Sarki Sherpa. They left for Base Camp today.
Optimized business
The new system will allow climbers to come and go from late September until late November since fall climbing permits are valid until November 30. The biggest outfitters are also offering Dhaulagiri climbs, so fast work on Manaslu may allow them to optimize their human resources (mainly climbing Sherpas) and offer their clients combined climbs of Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, and even Ama Dablam.
The huge Manaslu Base Camp last year. Photo: Seven Summit Treks
The time of long expeditions in which the climbers slowly progressed on the mountain through several rotations, while the rope fixers edged upwards, is over. Clients on supplementary oxygen can consider a summit push with only one or two rotations, or none if they have climbed another high peak (above 7,000m) before.
A logistic step forward
In recent years, the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) has overseen the rope fixing on Nepal’s most popular peaks: Everest, Manaslu, and Ama Dablam. Until now, they assigned the task to a single outfitter. Last year, for instance, Mingma G’s Imagine Nepal team did the rope fixing on Manaslu. Other teams paid them for their work.
This time, the team works directly with the EOAN, like the Icefall Doctors do every spring on Everest, when they forge a route through the Khumbu Icefall.
A member of the rope-fixing team on Manaslu. Photo: Imagine Nepal
Dawa Sherpa is directing the operation from Kathmandu, but Mingma David Sherpa is in Base Camp directly overseeing the rope fixing. Mingma David is a member of the EOAN, and since yesterday, the new First Vice President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). He is also the co-owner of Elite Exped with Nirmal Purja and Mingma Tenzi Sherpa.
Sherpas win NMA elections
For context, the NMA is the equivalent of a national alpine club. It has a significant influence on mountain politics and in the relations between the state and mountain tourism. Its new president, Phurba Gyaltsen Sherpa (Phur Gelje Sherpa), is also Managing Director of Himalayan Edge Adventure and Heli Everest, and a strong representative of the Sherpa community. His competition for the post was Kul Bahadur Gurung, the former NMA General Secretary.
According to the Everest Chronicle, Phurba Gyaltsen’s win over the previous team at the head of the institution is “a triumph of local tourism entrepreneurship over institutional professionalism.” Mingma David Sherpa’s VP role (he aligned himself with Kul Gurung) is the only key position the rival team managed to keep.
The winning group at the Nepal Mountaineering Association’s elections yesterday. Photo: The Himalayan Times
