One of the teams that is now starting to gather in Kathmandu is the Mountain Professionals Manaslu expedition. According to the team's blog the climbers will all be in Nepal by Friday, August 31 and they'll spend the first few days sight seeing, getting to know one another and holding meetings before they depart for Base Camp. They'll start their trek to BC sometime next week and they should be on the mountain around the 10th of September, give or take a few days.
The team's objective will be the 8156 meter (26,759 ft) Manaslu, the eighth tallest mountain on the planet. Located in the central Himalaya, it was first climbed back in 1956, just a few years after Everest. It is considered a good peak for climbers to hone their skills on and prepare for other, more challenging mountains. I'm sure that some of the Mountain Professional squad have Everest as a future objective.
Mountaineer/Journalist Bili Bierling is preparing for her next climb as well. She'll be heading out to Makalu starting tomorrow and begin an 8 day trek to Base Camp on that 8481 meter (27,825 ft) mountain. She is part of an international team, led by Kobler & Partner, that has set its sights on the fifth highest mountain in the world.
This should just be the start of team reports and expect to have a few other mountains and climbers added to these updates soon. It seems most of the groups are still just arriving or getting organized in Kathmandu and over the next week or so we should have a clearer picture of how many teams will be in the Himalaya this fall and what their objectives will be.
Post a Comment