Italy’s Simone Moro is returning to winter Manaslu for the sixth time, hoping to climb the world’s eighth-highest mountain at the harshest time of year.
He has not shared any further information about the climb, including about potential partners. On his fourth attempt in 2021-22, he joined with Pasang Rinzee Sherpa. One year later, he shared resources with Alex Txikon and his strong Sherpa team, but claiming health problems, he didn’t participate in the final push that put the Spaniard’s team on the summit.
Previously, Moro had attempted winter Manaslu in 2014-15 and 2018-19.
A question of criteria
Moro is careful to note that he will climb in “light” style rather than the stricter alpine style. Alpine style requires avoiding ropes fixed by others and climbing in one single push with no partial retreats. It will be hard not to use the ropes fixed this fall, and it is also not clear whether some equipment might be left behind for him. Moro ensures he’ll update on his progress as often as possible.
Moro claims that no one has summited Manaslu in winter, alpine style. However, some argue that this is only true for calendar winter, which runs from December 21 to March 21.
Simone Moro between Camp 1 and Camp 2 on Manaslu during his latest winter attempt. Photo: Simone Moro
“Yamada and Saito’s winter Manaslu summit was alpine style,” a reader from Japan pointed out on X. “They reached the summit in one push, nine days after setting up base camp.”
The reader is referring to Noboru Yamada and Yashuhira Saito, who made an impressive winter ascent in very tough conditions in 1985. They summited in one four-day push with three bivouacs on the way. On their first attempt some days previously, they retreated from 7,200m all the way down to base camp without leaving any gear on the mountain. They then tried again and summited on December 14.
Meteorological vs calendar winter
Unlike Moro, the Japanese followed the meteorological winter standard. This defines winter as running from December 1 until the end of February. This approach is typical in Asia and consistent with the winter climbing permits issued by Nepal’s government. However, it is not the most popular among the mainly Western teams that have achieved most of the classical winter 8,000m ascents.
To avoid such controversy, most climbers now follow an ultra-strict definition of winter — December 21 to February 28-29. That is, for instance, what Josh Kobusch will do on his upcoming winter attempt on Everest.
Moro intends to climb in a single push, but it will not be totally onsight. The Italian will head for Manaslu in the next few days to acclimatize and to scope out conditions carefully. Then he will retreat to Kathmandu and return to Manaslu once calendar winter begins.
