Autumn 2022 Himalayan Season: Mass on Manaslu – Rope to True Summit

2013 Manaslu "summit." Photo by Alan Arnette

The fixed ropes are now to the true summit of Manaslu. As expected, Manaslu is overrun with clients and a greater number of support climbers. Thus far, the Nepal government has issued 394 permits to foreigners, so considering a 1:1.5 support ratio, that puts close to 600 people on the peak, with more to come.

In an interesting twist, a few climbers who climbed all fourteen of the 8000ers are returning to Manaslu to correct the “sins” of the past by tagging the true summit. I don’t expect all of the people on Manaslu to attempt the true summit unless the conditions are extremely safe, or for example, a boot path is created that allows beginner 8000er climbers to simply follow a trail. Most will be content to tag the fore summit and move on to other 8000ers next spring.