While the debate about the summit of Manaslu rages white-hot, thanks to Mingma G’s success and Jackson Groves’ remarkable drone imagery of the summit ridge, climbers keep heading up the mountain. A significant number continue to claim success.
Among them, no-O2 climbers Anna Tybor, Federico Secchi, and Marco Majori. Tybor’s team reached the summit at 3 pm. As planned, they started skiing down. There is still no word whether they have arrived back in Base Camp.
No-O2 climber Martin Ramos also claimed success, although he seems to have shot his summit picture on the usual foresummit, at the end of the fixed ropes.
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Martin Ramos. Photo: Martin Ramos
Official sources in Nepal say that more than 100 climbers have “scaled” Manaslu. A similar number are doing their final push either today or later in the season. But the debate continues whether a foresummit is a valid “climb” of the mountain, especially for those claiming records or completing the 14×8,000’ers.
Meanwhile, Mingma G has posted a new video, showing the hair-raising traverse at 8,100m and the final climb to the actual summit. He said that they fixed ropes, but the soft snow on that ultra-steep face allows no completely reliable anchor. Climbers who take that path had better clutch their ice axes tightly, watch every step of their crampons’ front points…and not slip.
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One of the reasons why Manaslu climbers have not followed Mingma G’s bold path to the summit. Photo: Mingma G
On a sad note, a Canadian climber died while on his summit push. Brent Seal, 37, apparently suffered a stroke at around 7,800m, The Himalayan Times reports.
Snow delays Dhaulagiri climbers
Many Manaslu climbers have quickly moved to Dhaulagiri, hoping for a fast ascent to its (also tricky!) summit. The rope-fixing team was just about to finish its job when weather and snow disrupted everyone’s plans.
Purnima Shrestha, climbing with the big Seven Summit Treks group, reported from Camp 2 on Dhaulagiri yesterday that the rope fixers had finished up to Camp3, but that heavy snow had disrupted some of the sections. Carlos Soria and Luis Miguel Lopez reached Camp 1 yesterday after climbing in rain that later turned into very wet snow.
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Very little snow (and quite a lot of rain) on lower Dhaulagiri this year. Photo: Luis M Lopez