Yesterday it looked like my next expedition update from Manaslu would be to share the news of the final summits of the season as the last team on the mountain wrapped up operations. But as usual, Mother Nature has the last word when it comes to dictating the schedule, and she has once again disrupted the carefully laid plans of man.
The Adventure Consultants are the last team of climbers still standing on Manaslu and their plans were to launch a summit a bid from Camp 4 this morning. But, high winds have whipped up higher on the mountain, preventing them from proceeding with those plans, at least for now.
In a dispatch posted on the team’s website the group indicates that they will sit tight for another day and hope that conditions improve. With their acclimatization rotations now over and all of the pieces in place, it is likely that this will be their one and only summit push. If the weather continues to take a turn for the worse, they may have to head back down to Base Camp and start packing for home.
The forecast had called for clear skies and calm conditions as they headed up, although they are nearing the end of what has been a long weather window. Conditions throughout the season have been rainy and windy, but last week things cleared up, allowing most of the squads on the mountain to begin their final push. Since then, more than 200 summits have been recorded as nearly every other commercial squad took advantage of the conditions.
Unfortunately, the AC team arrived a bit later than most other groups, so they were slightly behind them when it came to the schedule. As other climbers set off for the summit, the Adventure Consultants team was just wrapping up its final acclimatization rotation. Hopefully they haven’t missed their window however, and they’ll be able to summit tomorrow instead.
We’ll keep an eye on their progress and keep our fingers crossed too. More news soon.
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