Manaslu: A Valentine’s Day Summit?

Climbers on Manaslu are on the move again, and this time they hope to end their rotation on the very summit.

For Simone Moro, it could be an unforgettable Valentine’s Day. “A day,” he wrote, “when I hope the love we all have and feel for the great silent Lady, the Mountain, will triumph.”

Alex Txikon added more prosaically: “Since the weather has improved, Iñaki, Kalden, and Namja have gone up. Tomorrow, we will go up with the rest of the team!”

Last weekend, their first snowstorm destroyed some of the larger tents in Base Camp. Still, the weather this year has been extraordinarily dry on the usually snowy Manaslu.  Simone Moro knows this well since avalanche danger from heavy snows thwarted his two previous winter attempts. This time, the 40cm of fresh snow has not stopped the climbers, especially when the sun returned today.