Mount Manaslu Expedition

Overview

Mt. Manaslu, the eighth tallest peak on the planet stands at 8,163 meters (26,781 ft). Popular for extreme mountain climbers, Mt. Manaslu is also known as “Kutang”. It is situated in the Mansiri Mountain Range of the Nepalese Himalayas in the west-central part of Nepal and the Gorkha district of Gandaki Province.

The word Manaslu means the mountain of spirit. Manaslu’s long ridges and valley glaciers provide feasible approaches from all directions culminating in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape. To date, six different routes are discovered to climb Manaslu and the south face is considered the toughest one to climb in climbing history.

Climbing Manaslu is used as the preliminary training for Everest Expedition and is seen by many as the alternative to Cho Oyu. Also, this mountain is the best if you are looking for the first time 8000m peak climb.

Manaslu Expedition is slightly more technical than Cho Oyu or Shishapangma due to the crevassed glacier, seracs, and ice. However, the weather on the North-East route is sometimes unpredictable. Clouds and snowfall increase the risk, and extra care must be taken to avoid crevasses and avalanches.

Notwithstanding that, we take you by choosing the best weather conditions. Experienced climbing leaders will take you through the best routes and make your journey as safe as possible.

Manaslu Expedition Route

The trekking part of the Manaslu Expedition trip twitches from Arughat, a small rural city that sits 126 km west of Kathmandu. From Arughat the hiking trail follows an ancient salt-trading route along the Burhi Gandak River. It passes the villages of Machhakhola, Jagat, Deng, Namrung, and Lho with tapered gorges, rhododendron forests, and local yak pasturelands.

After the 7 days trek climbers reach Samagaon, Tibetan influenced gorgeous village at the foot of Mt. Manaslu. There is a Buddhist monastery at Samagaon, where monks and nuns live. In Samagaon you will have an extra day for acclimatization day before heading up to Manaslu Base Camp at 4800 m.

Safety is our number one priority, and for this, proper acclimatization is vivacious. We will spend a few days at Base Camp, 4800m, before setting out on the Manaslu glacier. During the Manaslu expedition, we will make several ascensions and downhill hikes between the camps.

Manaslu Base Camp is positioned on a rocky moraine with marvelous Himalayan views. Here, you spend many days before the summit. Above base camp, we generally establish four camps.

The circumstance of the route is greatly affected by weather conditions. Our well-experienced Sherpa leaders will break the trail through the snow and fix the ropes used on much of the route to the summit. There will be some poles that will be useful as trail indicators in the snow.

Manaslu Camp I (5700 m/18700 ft) will be at the bottom of the North Peak, a satellite mountain of Manaslu. The route up to Camp I involves climbing over grassy slopes, rock slabs, and moraine, followed by a crevassed glacier with occasional small ice steps. The first climb to Camp I usually takes between 2-4 hours. We drop off a load and return to Base Camp the same day.

It is considered the route to Camp I, (5700m) and Camp II, (6400m) is the most technical section as there is a steep wall of seracs that is prone to collapse. These days, it has already fallen mostly and there is less danger now. We make sure the safety of you all when you will walk through the ropes fixed by the Sherpas. It takes about 3-6 hours to climb to the flat area where we set up Camp II.

The journey continues up the enduring glacier weaving through seracs and becoming steep as we approach Camp III (6900m), on a flat lumber below the col. Here, you might face a very strong wind at this camp. If conditions are good, Camp III can be reached in less than 3 hours.

Above this, the route to Camp IV (7400m), has some short steep sections of ice and snow. It can take between 4-8 hours, depending on conditions. Camp IV is on an exposed negotiate which is the beginning of the summit plateau.

It is just a place to rest and eat in preparation for the summit bid, far too windy to stay very long. Camp IV is the last camp on your Manaslu expedition. From here you push up for the summit. Most climbers begin their summit bid at 1 am and reach the top between 7-10 am.

Descending back to Base Camp, we trek to Dharmasala and Cross Larkey La (5106m) and join to Annapurna Circuit Trek route at Dharapani and further trek to Syange before driving back to Kathmandu.