As they clawed their way through knee deep snow to Camp 2, the rope fixing team on Manaslu (8163m) was exhausted. What kept them going on despite all odds was the thought of hundreds of eager climbers waiting at the base camp to reach the real summit of Manaslu.
This is the first time the mountain will see full-fledged commercial expeditions to its true summit.
“We had to do the job despite unfavorable weather conditions. Hundreds of climbers were eagerly waiting for us to fix the line to the real Manaslu summit,” Mingma Gyabu aka Mingma David Sherpa, leader of the rope fixing team, told Everest Chronicle after he descended to the base camp.
It was snowing constantly, he recalled. In a short window last Thursday, the team successfully set the line to the true summit of Manaslu. The team arrived at the base camp after two days. However, there has not been a single summit by any group even after five days since the rope has been fixed.
Climbers are waiting at the base camp, some in Camp I praying for weather to allow them to climb the peak. “The first team will attempt to summit Manaslu on September 21,” said Mingma Gyalje Sherpa aka Mingma G, who led his team to the real summit last year. His feat raised questions about the real summit of the mountain. That is one reason why many climbers have returned to reclimb the peak to its true summit.
Only a rare few reached the elusive real summit, which was unknown to a lot of climbers and guides. The Himalayan Database, the de facto authority on mountaineering ascents in the Himalayas, has affirmed that from now onward the foresummit will no longer be recognized as a true ascent of the mountain. Now, everybody will be eyeing for the true summit of Manaslu to be qualified as summiteers.
The route that Mingma G and team opened was a long detour from the fore summit that goes down and then traverses a slope and steeply climbs up to the summit.
Manaslu is mostly a mountain to practice at an 8000m peak. Earlier, climbers would reach what is now known as fore summit, some 7 meters below the real summit to qualify to get a summit certificate. The true summit conquest is going to be harder for beginners though.
The rope fixing team has laid the line a little bit differently which is along the corniced ridge, for both climbing and descending. “The route is tough, particularly for beginners,” said Mingma David.
Despite the real challenge lying ahead, climbers are determined to scale the real summit.
Norwegian Kristin Harila, along with her two climbing companions—Pasdawa Sherpa and Dawa Onju Sherpa, is one of the climbers who will attempt to summit the peak on September 21, according to Pemba Sherpa, founder of 8K Expedition, her outfitter.
14 peak record holder siblings Mingma Sherpa and Chhang Dawa Sherpa are planning to summit on September 22.
There has been a dramatic surge in the number of climbers in Manaslu. Nepal government has already issued over 400 permits this year, double the number of previous years. An estimated 300 climbing guides will be accompanying them in the climb, totaling over 700 climbers in Manaslu this autumn.
This means that there is a chance of traffic jams in the death zone, like the one that happened on Everest in 2019.
“The number of climbers has dramatically increased this year. They all attempt to reach the real summit. However, the route to the summit is along the precarious ridge all the way from the fore summit to the real summit,” said Bigyan Koirala at the Department of Tourism.
Expedition organizers, however, insist that there will be no traffic jam, if the teams coordinate for summit push. “Teams need to take turns for summit push, which will avoid unnecessary crowds at the death zone,” said Mingma G.
