This morning at 8 am local time, six climbers from Kyrgyzstan and seven Sherpas from 14 Peaks Expedition summited Manaslu. Three of the Kyrgyz, Eduard Kubatov, Asel Baibagysheva, and Andrey Erokhin went without supplemental oxygen.
Among the Kyrgyz, Sergei Seliverstov and Andrei Erokhin were part of a strong team that made the second winter ascent of 7,495m Ismail Somoni peak by a new route in 2020. Seliverstov thus became the first Winter Snow Leopard for his successful winter climbs of all five 7,000’ers of the former Soviet Union.
The Kyrgyz-Nepali team. Photo: Tashi Lakpa Sherpa
Sophie Lavaud, 54, climbing with Lhakpa Temba Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, also summited this morning. Previously, Lavaud reached Manaslu’s foresummit in 2017. Five years later, she corrected that false summit. She has two peaks left in her 14×8,000m list, Nanga Parbat and Shishapangma.
Sophie Lavaud. Photo: Seven Summit Treks
8K Expeditions reports that the young Iranian, Ali Mohtarami, summited without bottled O2.
Sherpa-assisted climbers have been a trend this season. Yesterday, September 30, at least 24 people summited Manaslu, including 13 Sherpas.
Today’s statistics show the same proportions.
Other clients and their Sherpas are heading for the summit now, including Adriana Brownlee, Felipe Bishara, and Galo Viguera Torralbo of Chile. They would like to summit during the 15 hours when the wind is expected to be less.
Ascending Manaslu. Photo: Seven Summit Treks.
As we reported yesterday, Dhaulagiri climbers have also started their summit push. Vadim Druelle confirmed yesterday that he is pushing for the summit this afternoon. Because of recent heavy snowfall, the route is still not fixed to the top.
Vadim Druelle. Photo: Vadim Druelle
