After a month-long stay in Manaslu base camp, Gelje Sherpa and Adriana Brownlee are finally heading out to the summit of Manaslu (8,163m). This longer than anticipated wait at the base camp has been eventful, to say the least.

Gelje lost three of his closest friends, who he says were like his siblings, in a fire in Kathmandu. The fire that broke out in the Elite Exped office killed Ashok Wenjha Rai, Karsang Tenjing Sherpa and Tsewang Sherpa, with whom he had worked on several occasions in the mountains of the Himalayas and Karakoram. 

Just when he returned to the base camp bidding farewell to his beloved brothers with a summit plan on September 27, a massive avalanche occurred right below Camp IV. 

Right in the heels of a mournful exchange regarding the last rites of the 3 deceased, this text from Gelje indicated more tragedies. “Another terrible incident took place in Manaslu,” he texted from Manaslu base camp. 

His text read, “a skier fell off the cliff towards Bhimthan right below the peak, several fellow climbers were injured in the avalanche”. Until then, no deaths had been reported in the avalanche. 

Guide Anup Rai was critically injured, but Anup breathed his last in a few hours due to lack of timely rescue. On the day of incidence, only two injured were evacuated from the site, while four critically injured spent the night in Camp III. Some had broken limbs, while some sustained minor injuries. Fellow climbers rushed to rescue those injured in the avalanche. 

Despite all these, Gelje is still determined to lead his client to the summit. “Weather is getting clearer, but high winds are above Camp III. So, we waited one more day to start,” he said before heading to Camp I on Thursday. 

The previous day, the body of legendary mountain skier Hilaree Nelson was found some 1,000m below the summit two days after she went missing. Nelson and her partner Jim Morrison wanted to set a record of the first ski descent from Manaslu. Jim successfully skied down to the base camp, but Hilaree’s blade skidded off the slope and she fell down the steep south slope of the mountain.

Like Gelje and Adriana, the series of unfortunate events have not deterred most climbers. A dozen climbers scaled the peak since the avalanche and about a dozen are heading to the summit tonight. 

Gelje is one of 300 Nepali guides who are leading their client to the summit of the world’s eighth highest mountain. Even after two deaths, thirteen injuries and continued bad weather on the second week of the season’s first summit, climbers are up for attempting to reach the true summit of the mountain. Many are eagerly waiting for a better weather window, while others are headed to higher camps.  

The anticipated summit push date of September third week has been pushed to October first week for many. “Our team starts going to higher camps from tomorrow,” said Lakpa Dendi Sherpa of Elite Exped on Thursday. They have scheduled a summit push for October 3. 

A few expedition companies have postponed their climbs this season.

American Madison Mountaineering made an official announcement of canceling the expedition for the season, citing bad weather and continuous snowfall. “Due to the lingering monsoon and heavy precipitation in western Nepal, as well as the continuous snowfall and bad weather, the route conditions on Manaslu are unsafe for us to proceed. Our Manaslu team is now safely off the mountain and heading home,” said the outfitter in its statement. 

Austrian Furtenbach Adventures also decided to quit. “Yesterday, there was another avalanche that destroyed tents in camp II. Winds are so strong that tents were destroyed at camp IV. Situation is still far from safe,” Lukas Furtenbach, managing director of the company, told Everest Chronicle.