This fall, Manaslu has more climbers than ever, and possibly less time than ever to get them all to the top and bring them down safely.
The rope fixers summited 8,163m Manaslu last night, kicking off a summit rush accelerated by the impending arrival of a typhoon in the second half of next week. Nepal’s Department of Tourism lists 493 foreign clients who want to reach the narrow, picky summit, which can host only one or two at a time.
Every minute counted yesterday for the seven rope fixers. On Wednesday, an avalanche destroyed part of their work, prompting four more Sherpas to hurry up with 1,300m of extra rope and equipment. Official rope fixers Chhiring Bhote (leader), Furi Sherpa, Karma Sarki Sherpa, Lopsang Bhote, Ngima Sherpa, Pam Dorjee Sherpa, and Pasang Gyaljen Sherpa were joined by Karma Gyaljen Sherpa and Tasi Sherpa of 8K and two others. Together, they pushed nonstop through the day until they summited in the dark at 9:25 pm local time.
Manaslu Camp 1 from a drone. Photo: Elite Exped
Pressure to hurry
“There was pressure to fix the ropes as early as possible due to the challenging weather,” IFMGA-certified guide Abiral Rai of Climbing The 7 Summits told Everest Chronicle from Base Camp. Last year, the route to Manaslu was ready by September 20.
Meanwhile, in Base Camp and Camp 1, hundreds geared up to follow the freshly laid ropes. There are now over 1,000 people on the mountain, with almost every climber supported by one or two Sherpas. There is also a large amount of gear, food, and oxygen to be carried up and down. That is enough to crowd the route at some points, especially the serac area between Camps 1 and 2, and the sharp snowy ridge to the true summit.
Under normal conditions, some teams would rush to the summit, hoping to finish their expeditions as quickly as possible, while others would wait for the initial rush to subside and then climb under quieter conditions. However, unclear weather and the threat of a typhoon that could hit the Nepal Himalaya next week are forcing expedition leaders to speed up the timetable. Many clients will have no rest days after their rotation to Camp 3.
Crowds on the ropes on Manaslu earlier this week. Photo: Magdalena Gąbka and Marcin Gorecki
Accident?
There are rumors that a climber has fallen today, but no confirmed reports yet. Tenzi Sherpa of Madison Mountaineering posted a video of a helicopter rescuing someone from Camp 2. However, it is not clear if the video was filmed today or yesterday, when a Singaporean climber perished of apparent altitude sickness above Camp 2:
Unclear window and cyclone next
A cyclone forming in the Bay of Bengal off India’s coast could bring heavy precipitation to Nepal by the end of next week. Most teams are targeting Sunday to Wednesday as their summit days. However, forecasts are unclear about the duration or even the presence of a summit window.
Snowy Friday
The forecast for this weekend is not great. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology of Nepal announced precipitation in the Central Himalaya today, and multimodel forecasts show continued unstable weather until a break between Monday and Wednesday. The duration and intensity of this instability vary from one model to another, but all report heavy snow from Thursday on.
The country is still under the influence of westerly winds created by the monsoon, which is slightly further south than usual. Tenzi Sherpa posted some images of snow falling at Camp 2 today, which has forced a change of plans. Instead of biding his time in Camp 2 for summit conditions, he retreated to Base Camp.
Artem Tsentsevitsky of Russia shared another photo of a foggy, rainy Base Camp this morning. The rain began to turn to snow throughout the day.
Manaslu Base Camp this morning. Photo: Artem Tsentsevitsky
Multimodel forecast for Manaslu this week, by Mountain-forecast.com
On Dhaulagiri, slightly further to the west, it was also snowing today in Base Camp during the puja ceremony:
