Manaslu Dominates Autumn Himalaya Season and One Death
With China closing Tibet to mountaineering this autumn and recent floods making travel to many areas in Nepal difficult, operators focused on Manaslu, and climbers came.
Nepali authorities have issued a record 451 climbing permits to foreign climbers on Manaslu (8,163 meters/26,781 feet), with a 1:1.5 member-to-support ratio, which could put an estimated 1,127 climbers on the mountain. There are 38 teams. Nepal received over $1.35 million in royalties.
Sadly, there has been one death on Manalsu. Overall, Nepal has issued 498 permits across six peaks.
Difficult Conditions on Manalsu
Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Systems told me last week that Manalsu could see up to three feet of snow, and he updated me today with, “Looking at things right now, it stays abnormally wet the next two days, then drier.” But he adds, “Just beyond 10 days, I’ve seen some hints of a cyclone to watch.” The fixed rope has reached Camp 3, opening the route to all teams for acclimatization rotations once conditions settle.
Adventure Consultants updated with :
We unzipped tent doors this morning to a snowy Base Camp. It was still snowing and continued for the rest of the morning. We put our ropes training plans on hold and spent a sociable morning in our comfortable dining tent. Our ropes training was put on hold, instead we had an Avalanche Awareness session, which seemed timely given the fresh snowfall. Tomorrow we will revert to our ropes training as long as conditions suit.
One death:
Sadly, 20-year-old Tasi Sherpa, from Makalu, died in his tent at Manaslu Base Camp. Nivesh Karki, executive director of Pioneer Adventure, told the Everest Chronicle that he was a porter and kitchen worker. “He was found inside a tent where a generator had been placed.” His body has been flown back to Kathmandu.
Makalu
Dhaulagiri
Shishapangma & Cho Oyu
No climbers are scheduled to climb the 8000ers within Tibet, since China closed Tibet to foreign climbers.
Flood Update
According to the Nepali Times, 1,386 bodies have been recovered in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, Nawalparasi East, and Nawalparasi West, while 5,130 people are still missing. This is sharply higher than the unofficial death toll of the 2015 earthquake.
Nepal’s reconstruction efforts will cost an estimated $4.7 billion, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). Among the affected sectors, hydropower sustained the most damage, approximately $1 billion.
More Avalanche Deaths
Russian Media reports that eighteen bodies have been recovered after an avalanche on Mishrigi (5,019 meters / 16,466 feet) in the Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria in the North Caucasus.
My condolences to all the families of the fallen.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
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A surge of debilitating fatigue overtook me. My shoulders drooped. I stared at my yellow boots, crushed by disappointment. I had trained hard for K2 and tried to anticipate every scenario, but now I was failing, and there was nothing I could do.
Closing my eyes, I was powerless, hopeless, and ready to surrender to the mountain. Everything I wanted—the summit, a safe return, my vow to my mother—was slipping away.
My ice axe dangled from my harness as my grip was weak.
Staring at the small yellowish spot illuminated by my headlamp on the snow, it was over, and, oddly, I didn’t care.
It was 12:30 a.m. on July 27, 2014—my fifty-eighth birthday.
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