Manaslu

Manaslu (मनास्लु, Kutang)

Manaslu region seen from Timang Village in Nepal

Manaslu is an 8,163-meter (26,781-foot) mountain in north-central Nepal and the eighth-highest mountain on Earth. Rising in the Mansiri Himal east of the Annapurna massif, it is one of the world’s fourteen 8,000-meter mountains and one of Nepal’s most geographically dominant summits.

Its name comes from the Sanskrit word manasa, associated with the mind, soul, or spirit, and Manaslu is commonly translated as “Mountain of the Spirit.” The name feels particularly appropriate in a region where mountains have long held religious and cultural importance for the communities living beneath them.

Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956, by Japanese climber Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa during an expedition led by Yuko Maki. The ascent represented the first successful climb of an 8,000-meter mountain by a Japanese expedition and established a lasting connection between Manaslu and Japanese mountaineering.

The mountain subsequently became the site of several landmark climbs. Japanese climbers opened the enormous northwest side in 1971. Reinhold Messner climbed a new route on the south face in 1972. A Japanese women’s expedition reached the summit in 1974, producing the first female ascent of any 8,000-meter peak. Polish climbers Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski made the first winter ascent in January 1984, while Jerzy Kukuczka and Artur Hajzer completed another major route in alpine style in 1986.

In recent decades, Manaslu has also become one of Nepal’s more frequently climbed 8,000-meter mountains. That increased popularity has not made it harmless. Avalanches, seracs, crevasses, severe weather, extreme altitude, and a complicated final summit ridge remain serious hazards. The mountain’s climbing history contains both extraordinary achievements and some of the worst avalanche disasters in Himalayan mountaineering.

⚡ Fast Facts

Fact	Details
Continent	Asia
Country	Nepal
Province	Gandaki Province
Districts/Region	Gorkha–Manang region
Mountain Range	The Himalayas
Subrange	Mansiri Himal
Elevation	8,163 m / 26,781 ft
World Ranking	8th-highest mountain
Prominence	Approximately 3,092 m / 10,144 ft
Isolation	Approximately 105.5 km / 65.6 mi
Key Col	Approximately 5,071 m / 16,637 ft
Nearest Higher Neighbor (NHN)	Dhaulagiri
Line Parent	Cho Oyu
Coordinates	Approximately 28.5504° N, 84.5596° E
Name Meaning	“Mountain of the Spirit”
Alternative Historical Name	Kutang
First Ascent	May 9, 1956
First Ascenders	Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa
Expedition Leader	Yuko Maki
Second Summit Party	Kiichiro Kato and Minoru Higeta, May 11, 1956
First-Ascent Route	Northeast side / Manaslu Glacier
Second Ascent	May 17, 1971
First South-Face Ascent	April 25, 1972
First Women’s Ascent	May 4, 1974
First Winter Ascent	January 12, 1984
First Winter Ascenders	Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski
Protected Area	Manaslu Conservation Area
Latest Major New Route	South-southwest face, October 2025
Terrain	Glacier, steep snow and ice, rock, seracs, avalanche slopes, and exposed summit ridge

🏔️ Where Is Manaslu?

Manaslu rises in the Mansiri Himal of north-central Nepal, east of the Annapurna massif and west of the Ganesh Himal and Sringi Himal. Nepal Tourism Board places the mountain roughly 64 kilometers east of Annapurna, within a vast mountain landscape extending from subtropical river valleys to the Tibetan frontier.

The Budhi Gandaki River drains much of the eastern and southern Manaslu region. Traditional settlements including Samagaon, Lho, Namrung, and other villages lie along the valleys beneath the mountain. To the northwest, high passes and glaciated terrain connect toward the Annapurna region.

Annapurna lies to the west and southwest. Himal Chuli, reaching almost 7,900 meters, stands southeast of Manaslu, while Ngadi Chuli, also known historically as Peak 29, rises immediately south of the main mountain. Farther east lies Chamar in the Sringi Himal.

The entire landscape around Manaslu is one of enormous relief. Deep river valleys descend thousands of meters below summits that exceed 7,000 and 8,000 meters, creating some of the steepest mountain-to-valley transitions in Nepal.

Beautiful dramatic sunset over Mount Manaslu in Himalaya mountains, Nepal. Manaslu circuit trek December 2017. | Valdis Skudre

📏 How High Is Manaslu?

Manaslu reaches 8,163 meters (26,781 feet) above sea level.

Older maps and historical expedition literature frequently used 8,156 meters, or approximately 26,760 feet. Modern Nepalese mapping and the Himalayan Database use 8,163 meters, which is now the accepted standard elevation.

At this height, Manaslu ranks as the eighth-highest mountain in the world, below Dhaulagiri and above Nanga Parbat.

Only thirteen other mountains on Earth exceed 8,000 meters, all of them in the Himalayas or Karakoram. Manaslu is therefore part of the extremely small group of mountains whose summits enter the atmospheric zone where the human body can no longer fully acclimatize.

📐 Prominence and Isolation

Manaslu has approximately 3,092 meters (10,144 feet) of topographic prominence, making it one of the most independent major mountains in the Himalayas.

Its key col lies at approximately 5,071 meters (16,637 feet). Since the mountain rises more than 1,500 meters above this saddle, it easily qualifies as an ultra-prominent mountain.

Manaslu’s true topographic isolation is approximately 105.5 kilometers (65.6 miles). The nearest higher mountain is Dhaulagiri, far to the west beyond the Annapurna region.

This independence distinguishes Manaslu from many very high named Himalayan summits that rise only slightly above connecting ridges. Manaslu is not merely one point in a continuous high crest. It is the overwhelming centerpiece of its own mountain group.

🧠 What Does Manaslu Mean?

Nepal Tourism Board explains that the name Manaslu comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa. The term is associated with mind, intellect, soul, or spirit, leading to the familiar English translation “Mountain of the Spirit.”

Older climbing literature also uses the name Kutang, particularly when describing the broader mountain district. Historical explorers sometimes referred to the surrounding peaks collectively as the Kutang Himal before Manaslu became the dominant international name.

The mountain also has local sacred associations that cannot be reduced to its Sanskrit-derived modern name. Communities around Samagaon historically viewed the mountain as spiritually important, and the early Japanese expeditions discovered that government permission to climb did not automatically mean local residents welcomed mountaineers onto the mountain.

That tension became an important part of Manaslu’s early climbing history.

📜 Early Exploration

European knowledge of the Manaslu region remained limited through the first half of the 20th century. British mountaineer H. W. Tilman explored parts of Nepal in 1950 and produced one of the photographs that helped attract Japanese interest to Manaslu.

The Japanese Alpine Club subsequently made the mountain a major national mountaineering objective.

A reconnaissance expedition traveled to the region in 1952 under Kinji Imanishi. The team first investigated the western side but found it surrounded by formidable walls. It then moved around the mountain and examined the glacier system on the east and northeast.

That reconnaissance discovered the route that would eventually lead to the summit. The Manaslu Glacier descended from high on the mountain through major icefalls but appeared to offer a possible line toward the upper plateau.

The Japanese returned the following year.

Trekking in the Himalayas in the area of Mount Manaslu

🇯🇵 The 1953 Expedition

The 1953 Japanese expedition was far more ambitious. Fifteen climbers, scientists, Sherpas, and hundreds of porters traveled up the Budhi Gandaki toward the mountain.

The expedition established Base Camp near the lower end of the Manaslu Glacier before working upward through the icefalls. Camp after camp was established as the climbers gained altitude toward the North Col and upper plateau.

On June 1, Kiichiro Kato, Jiro Yamada, and Shojiro Ishizaka made a serious summit attempt. They climbed to approximately 7,750 meters, exceptionally high for an unclimbed mountain during that period.

The climbers were operating without sufficient oxygen support for the final altitude and eventually exhausted themselves. Roughly 400 vertical meters remained above them.

They turned around.

Although the summit had escaped them, the expedition demonstrated that Manaslu could be climbed.

🙏 The 1954 Conflict at Sama

The Japanese returned in 1954, but this time the greatest obstacle was not ice or altitude.

Residents of Sama, now generally known as Samagaon, opposed the expedition’s passage toward the mountain. According to the Japanese expedition account, villagers believed that the previous climbing activity had violated the sanctity of the mountain and contributed to an avalanche that damaged or destroyed a local monastery.

The climbers were prevented from continuing.

Negotiations failed, and the expedition abandoned Manaslu and turned toward other objectives.

The episode is significant because it demonstrates the difference between a mountain viewed as an international climbing objective and a mountain experienced as part of a lived cultural and spiritual landscape. The Japanese had official permission from Nepal, but local acceptance remained essential.

Efforts continued over the following year to rebuild relations with the community.

🤝 Returning to Manaslu

In 1955, representatives of the Japanese Alpine Club traveled to Kathmandu to negotiate a return to Manaslu.

An advance party subsequently passed through Sama and reconnoitered the upper route. The relationship with the village improved enough for a major expedition to return the following spring.

The successful 1956 expedition was led by Yuko Maki, one of Japan’s most respected mountaineers. Maki was already famous for participating in the first ascent of the Mittellegi Ridge of the Eiger in 1921 and the first ascent of Mount Alberta in the Canadian Rockies.

The Manaslu expedition included climbers who had participated in earlier Japanese attempts, giving the team an unusually deep understanding of the mountain.

Their accumulated experience would prove decisive.

Trekker on Manaslu circuit trek in Nepal

🇯🇵 The 1956 Japanese Expedition

The expedition left Kathmandu on March 11, 1956, and reached Sama later that month. Base Camp was established at approximately 12,600 feet near the Manaslu Glacier.

Unlike the 1953 expedition, the team planned to reduce the number of intermediate camps and move supplies more efficiently. The climbers also paid greater attention to acclimatization and the testing of supplemental oxygen equipment.

By April 13, Camp II had been established on the Naike Col at approximately 18,350 feet. Higher camps were progressively placed through the glacier and beneath the upper plateau.

The route remained complicated. The climbers had to negotiate steep snow and ice, seracs, crevasses, high winds, and a difficult transition onto the upper mountain.

By early May, however, conditions were unusually favorable.

The expedition prepared two summit teams.

🧗 The Final Route

The upper mountain presented the climbers with a broad snow plateau before narrowing toward a much steeper summit section.

The first summit team consisted of Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa. They moved upward with oxygen from the high camps and crossed snowfields broken by crevasses.

Near the summit, the character of the terrain changed. A corniced snow ridge and exposed rock required considerably more care than the broad plateau below.

Imanishi later described cutting large steps into the snow and ice while Gyalzen moved carefully behind him. The two belayed one another across sections where a fall would have been catastrophic.

Eventually they reached a deep gap immediately below the highest pinnacle.

Only a few dozen feet remained.

🏆 First Ascent — May 9, 1956

At 12:30 p.m. on May 9, 1956, Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu reached Manaslu’s summit.

The summit was an extremely narrow knife-edge rather than a broad snow dome. The climbers had so little secure space that they effectively straddled the ridge.

They raised the flags of Nepal and Japan and photographed one another before beginning their descent.

The ascent was a major achievement for Japanese mountaineering. While Western expeditions had made the first ascents of most of the great 8,000-meter peaks climbed up to that point, Manaslu became the first 8,000er whose first ascent was led and achieved primarily through Japanese mountaineering.

Two days later, another pair repeated the climb.

🏆 The Second Summit Party

On May 11, 1956, Kiichiro Kato and Minoru Higeta reached the summit.

Kato’s success was particularly satisfying because he had been part of the 1953 expedition that came within roughly 400 vertical meters of the top.

The two summit parties confirmed the viability of the route and gave the expedition an unusually complete success.

Manaslu had required years of effort: reconnaissance in 1952, a high attempt in 1953, a blocked expedition in 1954, diplomatic and community negotiations in 1955, and finally the successful climb in 1956.

That long Japanese relationship with the mountain is one reason Manaslu is sometimes described as having a special place in the history of Japanese Himalayan climbing.

🏔️ Fifteen Years Until the Second Ascent

Despite the successful 1956 expedition, Manaslu did not immediately become a regularly climbed 8,000-meter peak.

The second confirmed ascent did not occur until 1971.

By then, Japanese climbers had turned their attention to a completely different problem: the enormous western side of the mountain.

Early explorers had considered this wall almost impossible. The northwest face rises roughly 4,000 meters through steep ice and rock, while avalanches repeatedly sweep its slopes.

A Japanese expedition led by Akira Takahashi decided to attempt it anyway.

The climb required an enormous logistical effort.

🇯🇵 The West Wall — 1971

The 1971 team arrived with more than 12 tons of supplies, approximately 300 porters, tens of thousands of feet of rope, hundreds of snow pickets, ladders, bolts, and other climbing equipment.

The lower route crossed a heavily crevassed icefall before reaching the northwest wall. Higher up, continual avalanches damaged fixed ropes and destroyed anchors.

The route’s greatest obstacle became Kasa-iwa, or “Umbrella Rock,” an approximately 800-foot barrier high on the west ridge.

Climbers spent roughly 20 days forcing a route through its steep rock. The hardest terrain involved UIAA V–VI climbing and aid, exceptionally serious at almost 7,000 meters.

Above Umbrella Rock, the climbers still faced a hanging glacier, hard ice, and the enormous summit plateau.

🏆 Second Ascent — May 17, 1971

A final camp was established on the plateau at approximately 7,360 meters.

Only two climbers remained strong enough and sufficiently supplied for the summit push: Kazuharu Kohara and Motoyoshi Tanaka.

They left early on May 17 and crossed roughly a mile and a half of high plateau while climbing another 800 vertical meters.

At 12:15 p.m., the pair reached Manaslu’s summit.

Just beneath the top they found an ice piton left by the 1956 first ascenders. They removed it and carried it back to Japan, where it was later presented to Yuko Maki.

The climb was the second ascent of Manaslu and the first from the west.

⚠️ The 1972 Korean Avalanche Disaster

Manaslu’s danger became horrifyingly clear the following spring.

A South Korean expedition was attempting the northeast side when a massive avalanche struck Camp III on April 10, 1972.

Fifteen people were killed: four Korean expedition members, one Japanese participant, and ten Sherpas.

Several people were swept thousands of feet but survived.

The disaster became one of the deadliest single avalanches involving a Himalayan expedition and reinforced Manaslu’s reputation for unstable snow and ice.

It was particularly devastating for the Korean climbing community. Members of the same family had already suffered losses on an earlier Manaslu expedition.

Only weeks after the avalanche, another expedition was climbing on the opposite side of the mountain.

🇦🇹 Reinhold Messner and the South Face

A Tyrolean expedition led by Wolfgang Nairz arrived in 1972 to attempt the huge south-southwest face.

The wall rises roughly 3,000 meters through difficult rock, glacier terrain, steep ice, and a complicated upper plateau.

Among the expedition members was Reinhold Messner, then emerging as one of the most innovative mountaineers of his generation.

The route began with a difficult rock buttress before entering a complex glacier system known as the Ice Labyrinth. Camps were established progressively higher toward the southwest shoulder.

Above approximately 7,300 meters, the climbers reached the edge of the upper summit plateau.

Messner and Franz Jäger moved upward for the final attempt.

🏆 Messner’s 1972 Summit

On April 25, 1972, Jäger began struggling and decided to turn around.

Messner continued alone.

He climbed two steep snow sections and followed the final ridge to the summit, reaching it at approximately 2 p.m.

Weather deteriorated rapidly during the descent. A violent blizzard swept across the upper mountain and visibility disappeared.

Messner eventually returned to the highest camp, but Jäger never arrived.

Horst Fankhauser and Andi Schlick attempted to search for him in the storm. Schlick also disappeared.

Neither Jäger nor Schlick survived.

Messner’s ascent became the first climb of Manaslu’s south face and the third ascent of the mountain, but its success was overshadowed by the loss of two expedition members.

👩 First Women on an 8,000-Meter Mountain

Manaslu reached another major milestone in 1974.

A Japanese women’s expedition arrived on the mountain and ultimately followed the established northeast-side route.

On May 4, 1974, Naoko Nakaseko, Masako Uchida, Mieko Mori, and Jambu Sherpa reached the highest summit.

The ascent made the Japanese women the first women in history to climb an 8,000-meter mountain.

The achievement came four years before women first summited Everest and marked a major development in high-altitude mountaineering.

The expedition also demonstrated the complexity of Manaslu’s upper ridge. The climbers initially reached a summit point but recognized that another, slightly higher top remained beyond it. They continued for roughly two more hours before reaching the highest point.

That distinction would become extremely important decades later.

Spectacular view of Manaslu mountain on Manaslu trail, Himalayas, Nepal | Olga Danylenko

🏔️ Manaslu’s Complicated Summit Ridge

Manaslu has one of the most confusing summit areas among the 8,000-meter mountains.

Rather than rising smoothly to one obvious point, the upper mountain contains a series of snow and rock bumps along a narrow, corniced ridge.

Several of these points have historically been mistaken for the summit.

The Himalayan Database now distinguishes a foresummit around 8,125–8,130 meters, along with higher points immediately before the 8,163-meter summit. Some climbers have also stopped near a high foresummit around 8,150–8,156 meters.

The final ridge to the highest point can be considerably more difficult and exposed than the slopes immediately below it.

As Manaslu became increasingly commercialized, this geographical detail produced one of modern high-altitude climbing’s largest record-keeping controversies.

❓ The Foresummit Problem

For many years, numerous climbers who believed they had summited Manaslu had actually stopped at one of the final foresummits.

The problem was not necessarily deliberate dishonesty. When groups reached the high ridge in poor visibility, with limited historical information and fixed ropes ending below the true summit, the highest accessible bump could easily be mistaken for the top.

However, photographs, detailed maps, drone imagery, and historical analysis gradually demonstrated that many claimed ascents had ended short of the mountain’s 8,163-meter summit.

The Himalayan Database now explicitly differentiates between the actual summit and foresummit ascents.

This has changed the way modern expeditions operate on Manaslu.

🪢 Reaching the Highest Point Again in 2021

The summit issue received renewed attention during the 2021 autumn season.

Nepalese climbers extended fixed ropes across the difficult final ridge to the mountain’s actual highest point, making it more practical for commercial teams to reach the summit rather than stopping at a foresummit.

The Himalayan Database subsequently reviewed summit claims much more carefully and marked many climbers from that season as having reached only the foresummit.

Modern expedition operators increasingly emphasize reaching the actual 8,163-meter point.

Even with fixed ropes, the final traverse is serious. The ridge is narrow, exposed, and often corniced, and strong winds at more than 8,100 meters can make even a short horizontal distance extremely demanding.

❄️ First Winter Ascent — 1984

Manaslu became an important target for Polish winter mountaineers during the early 1980s.

An expedition led by Lech Korniszewski arrived in December 1983 and attempted the route through the south side used by Messner’s expedition.

The climbing began badly.

On December 11, Stanisław Jaworski was killed when a fixed rope that had been damaged by rockfall broke and he fell roughly 100 meters.

After considerable discussion, the expedition continued.

Camps were progressively established through the Ice Labyrinth and onto the upper mountain while temperatures dropped below -30°C and violent winter winds repeatedly destroyed tents.

🏆 January 12, 1984

Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski established a final camp at approximately 7,700 meters.

On January 12, 1984, they climbed to the summit.

Their ascent became the first winter climb of Manaslu and only the second successful winter ascent of an 8,000-meter mountain after Everest’s Polish winter ascent in 1980.

Berbeka and Gajewski climbed without supplemental oxygen.

The descent was extremely difficult. Hurricane-force winds battered the climbers, and both suffered frostbite.

The ascent became another landmark achievement in the extraordinary era of Polish winter Himalayan mountaineering.

🇵🇱 The South Ridge — 1984

Later that same year, Polish climbers opened another important route.

A small team led by Janusz Kulis approached the mountain from the Pungen Glacier with the goal of completing the previously unclimbed south ridge.

The climbers operated with minimal outside support and without supplementary oxygen. Only two fixed camps were established.

After weeks of climbing through the difficult Pungen La approach, Aleksander Lwow and Krzysztof Wielicki launched the final summit push.

On October 20, 1984, they reached Manaslu’s summit.

The ascent completed the first route onto Manaslu from the Pungen Valley and south ridge, solving a line that several earlier expeditions had attempted unsuccessfully.

🧗 Kukuczka and Hajzer — 1986

Another extraordinary Polish expedition arrived in 1986, led by Jerzy Kukuczka and including Artur Hajzer and Mexican climber Carlos Carsolio.

The group originally attempted Manaslu’s difficult east ridge, which had defeated numerous earlier expeditions.

After weeks of bad weather and slow progress, they changed plans.

Kukuczka, Hajzer, and Carsolio began climbing directly across the northeast face in alpine style.

They carried their own equipment and made successive bivouacs at approximately 5,500, 6,300, 7,300, 7,600, and 8,000 meters.

The terrain included difficult mixed climbing at extreme altitude.

🏔️ Manaslu East

During the 1986 climb, the team also made the first ascent of Manaslu’s eastern summit, historically listed around 7,992 meters.

After gaining the upper plateau, Carsolio remained at the final bivouac because of frostbite.

Kukuczka and Hajzer continued alone.

On November 10, 1986, they reached Manaslu’s main summit.

The climb became the first November ascent of an 8,000-meter mountain and another major new route in lightweight style.

For Kukuczka, Manaslu was his twelfth 8,000-meter summit during his extraordinary race to climb all fourteen.

🧗 The Kazakh Route — 2006

The northeast face received another major route in 2006, when Denis Urubko and Sergei Samoilov returned after first acclimatizing on the normal route.

The pair climbed a new line in alpine style, carrying their own equipment without fixed high camps or large-scale expedition support.

They encountered deep snow lower on the face before moving through increasingly steep mixed ground higher up.

The ascent reinforced Manaslu’s dual personality.

On one side, the northeast route was becoming an increasingly established expedition route.

Only a short distance away, elite alpinists were still finding serious unclimbed terrain on the same enormous face.

⚠️ The 2012 Avalanche

Manaslu’s avalanche danger produced another major disaster in September 2012.

A large avalanche swept through high camps on the normal route during the night of September 22–23.

Camp III, around 6,800 meters, was devastated, and climbers were swept hundreds of meters down the mountain.

At least nine people were initially confirmed dead, with additional climbers missing and later fatalities reported as rescue operations continued.

The victims included several nationalities.

The accident became one of the most serious Himalayan climbing disasters of the early 21st century and demonstrated the vulnerability of crowded camps placed beneath avalanche-prone upper slopes.

🕯️ Hilaree Nelson — 2022

Manaslu was the scene of another widely reported tragedy in September 2022.

American ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson reached the summit with her partner Jim Morrison and began descending on skis.

Shortly below the summit, Nelson fell and disappeared down the mountain.

A search eventually located her body.

Nelson was one of the most accomplished ski mountaineers of her generation, known for major descents and Himalayan expeditions including Lhotse.

Her accident again highlighted the seriousness of descending Manaslu’s steep upper slopes even for elite climbers with extensive high-altitude experience.

🧗 A New Route in 2025

Manaslu’s development did not end with the commercialization of the normal route.

In autumn 2025, a Russian team consisting of Natalia Belyankina, Kirill Eizeman, Sergei Kondrashkin, Vitaly Shipilov, and Andrey Vasilyev climbed a major new line on the south-southwest face.

The team first acclimatized on Manaslu’s normal route before relocating to the southwestern side.

They left Base Camp on October 12 carrying packs of roughly 32–35 kilograms and enough food for an extended alpine-style attempt.

Their new route began more than 500 meters to the right of the 1972 Tyrolean line.

🧊 Six Nights Above 7,000 Meters

The climbers negotiated lower snow slopes, a serac zone, steep ice, poorly protected firn, and mixed terrain.

By October 21, they reached the upper plateau around 7,730 meters, where their route joined terrain associated with the 1972 line.

The following day they continued toward the summit in strong winds and poor visibility.

All five climbers reached the summit on October 22, 2025.

They spent only seconds on top because of the violent conditions.

The team then descended via the old 1972 route, taking several more days to reach Base Camp.

The complete climb lasted 16 days, with six nights spent above 7,000 meters. The team climbed without supplemental oxygen, fixed camps, or Sherpa climbing support.

It was the first major new line established on Manaslu’s broad south-southwest face since Messner’s 1972 route.

🧊 Glaciers and Terrain

Manaslu is surrounded by a complicated system of glaciers.

The Manaslu Glacier dominates the northeast side and provided the route used by the Japanese first ascenders. The modern standard climbing route continues through this general part of the mountain.

The southwest and southern sides contain the Thulagi and Pungen glacier systems, beneath much steeper faces.

Each side presents different hazards. The northeast route crosses heavily crevassed glacier terrain and passes beneath large seracs. The western and southern routes involve extensive rock, steep ice, hanging glaciers, and enormous avalanche slopes.

The mountain’s upper plateau can give a misleading impression of security. Even comparatively moderate snow slopes at 7,500–8,000 meters can become dangerous when loaded by new snow or swept by powerful winds.

⚠️ Avalanche and Serac Danger

Avalanches are the most persistent objective danger in Manaslu’s history.

The 1972 Korean disaster and 2012 high-camp avalanche are only the best-known examples. Numerous other expeditions have lost climbers, camps, fixed ropes, and equipment to snow and ice.

The 1971 west-wall team repeatedly watched avalanches tear sections of its prepared route apart. The 1980s climbing record contains additional incidents involving wind slabs and collapsing snow slopes.

Seracs create another hazard. Large towers of glacier ice can collapse with little warning and send debris across routes below.

Because glacier structure and seasonal snowfall vary constantly, a route that appears comparatively safe during one expedition may be significantly more dangerous during another.

🌦️ Climate and Weather

Manaslu is strongly influenced by the South Asian monsoon.

Moist air moving north from the Indian subcontinent rises against the Himalayas and produces heavy precipitation on the mountain’s southern slopes.

During summer, lower valleys receive heavy rain while snow accumulates at altitude.

Spring climbing expeditions operate before the monsoon reaches its full strength. Conditions can still include heavy snowfall and unstable snowpacks.

Autumn is another major season, with climbing beginning after the monsoon retreats. Autumn has become particularly important for Manaslu’s modern commercial expeditions.

Winter is dramatically harsher. Temperatures fall far below freezing, daylight is limited, storms are frequent, and high winds sweep the summit plateau and final ridge.

Buddhist monastery and Manaslu – View from Manaslu circuit trek | SJ Travel Photo and Video

🫁 The Death Zone

Manaslu’s summit lies well within the atmospheric region popularly known as the death zone.

Above approximately 8,000 meters, oxygen pressure is too low for the human body to maintain itself indefinitely.

Even properly acclimatized climbers gradually deteriorate.

Decision-making becomes slower, coordination worsens, dehydration becomes difficult to manage, and frostbite risk increases sharply.

Many modern climbers use supplemental oxygen above the highest camps. Others continue attempting the mountain without it, including climbers pursuing lightweight or alpine-style ascents.

Neither approach eliminates the underlying dangers of extreme altitude.

🌿 Flora and Fauna

The Manaslu Conservation Area protects an unusually broad range of ecosystems because its elevation extends from low Himalayan valleys to the 8,163-meter summit of Manaslu.

Nepal Tourism Board describes approximately 19 forest types distributed across low-hill, middle-mountain, and high-mountain vegetation zones. Estimates for the protected area include roughly 1,500–2,000 species of flowering plants.

At lower elevations, warm forests support broadleaf species and dense understory vegetation. Higher slopes contain forests of oak, rhododendron, pine, fir, birch, and juniper before transitioning into alpine shrubs and grasslands.

Above the vegetation line, plant cover gradually disappears. Manaslu’s highest slopes contain only rock, snow, and glacier ice.

🐾 Wildlife

The Manaslu Conservation Area supports approximately 33 species of mammals, according to Nepal Tourism Board.

Among the most notable is the snow leopard, which survives in remote alpine terrain.

Himalayan tahr occupy steep rocky slopes, while musk deer occur in suitable forest and subalpine habitats.

Other mammals throughout the wider landscape include blue sheep, Himalayan black bears, and smaller high-altitude species.

The conservation area also supports around 110 bird species, along with butterflies and reptiles.

The enormous range of elevation helps explain this biodiversity. Within a relatively short horizontal distance, Manaslu’s watersheds descend from one of Earth’s highest summits into forested valleys thousands of meters below.

🏞️ Manaslu Conservation Area

The Manaslu Conservation Area was established by the Government of Nepal in 1998.

It covers approximately 1,663 square kilometers in Gorkha District and extends northward toward Tibet and westward toward the Annapurna Conservation Area.

Unlike a landscape centered solely on wilderness preservation, Manaslu includes long-established settlements and cultural landscapes.

The conservation area therefore combines biodiversity protection with community development, tourism, trekking, and management of natural resources.

Manaslu itself forms the area’s highest point.

The protected landscape contains glaciers, high passes, forests, alpine pastures, monasteries, traditional villages, and important wildlife habitat.

🙏 Culture of the Manaslu Region

The upper Manaslu region has strong Tibetan Buddhist cultural influences, particularly in the Nubri and Tsum valleys.

Monasteries, chortens, mani walls, prayer wheels, prayer flags, and sacred mountains form visible elements of the landscape.

Communities historically relied on agriculture, livestock, seasonal grazing, and trade routes connecting Nepal with Tibet.

The history of the Japanese expeditions demonstrates how important these cultural relationships can be. For residents of Sama in the 1950s, Manaslu was not simply an unclimbed sporting challenge. It belonged to a spiritual landscape in which human actions on the mountain could have consequences for the community below.

Modern trekking has brought significant economic change, but the cultural importance of the region remains central to the experience of traveling beneath Manaslu.

🥾 The Manaslu Circuit

The Manaslu Circuit Trek has become one of Nepal’s best-known alternatives to the Everest and Annapurna trekking routes.

The trail traditionally follows the Budhi Gandaki Valley northward through increasingly high mountain settlements before curving around the massif.

Trekkers pass through subtropical forests, steep river gorges, agricultural villages, Tibetan-influenced settlements, alpine landscapes, and eventually high mountain terrain.

Manaslu gradually becomes more dominant as the trail approaches villages such as Lho and Samagaon.

Unlike climbing the mountain, the circuit requires no technical mountaineering under normal trekking conditions, but it is a long and demanding high-altitude journey.

🏘️ Samagaon

Samagaon is one of the most important settlements beneath Manaslu.

The village lies at approximately 3,500 meters on the northeastern side of the mountain and serves as an important acclimatization stop for trekkers.

It is also closely connected with Manaslu’s expedition history.

The Japanese climbers of the 1950s passed through the settlement, encountered resistance there in 1954, and later rebuilt relations with local residents before the successful 1956 expedition.

Modern expedition Base Camp lies higher on the Manaslu Glacier side of the mountain, while Samagaon provides accommodation and logistical support farther down the valley.

Views of Manaslu from the surrounding area can be spectacular, with the mountain rising more than 4,500 vertical meters above the village.

🏔️ Larkya La

The Manaslu Circuit eventually crosses Larkya La, the high pass connecting the upper Budhi Gandaki region with the valleys descending toward the Annapurna side.

The pass rises above 5,000 meters and represents the highest point of the conventional circuit.

From the surrounding high terrain, trekkers see a remarkable collection of mountains including Manaslu, Himal Chuli, Cheo Himal, Himlung Himal, and peaks of the Annapurna region.

The crossing also illustrates the geographical relationship between Manaslu and its western neighbors.

Once trekkers descend from Larkya La, they eventually reach trails connected with the Annapurna Circuit.

🪨 Geology

Manaslu formed through the same continental collision that created the entire Himalayan chain.

The Indian Plate continues moving northward into the Eurasian Plate, compressing and thickening the Earth’s crust.

Over millions of years, this collision uplifted rocks from deep within the crust and raised them into the world’s highest mountain range.

Manaslu and its neighboring peaks contain complex metamorphic, sedimentary, and intrusive rocks affected by the enormous pressures of Himalayan mountain building.

Glaciers subsequently shaped much of the mountain’s modern appearance. Moving ice carved valleys and cirques while freeze-thaw weathering fractured exposed rock.

The landscape continues evolving through earthquakes, river erosion, rockfall, avalanches, landslides, and glacier retreat.

Stone garden near the lake Birendra at the Manaslu mountain area. Nepal, Manaslu circuit trek, December 2017.

🏔️ Nearby Mountains

Himal Chuli rises southeast of Manaslu and reaches approximately 7,893 meters. It is one of the highest mountains of the Mansiri Himal and forms a spectacular multi-summit massif of its own.

Ngadi Chuli, historically known as Peak 29, rises immediately south of Manaslu to approximately 7,871 meters. Despite its enormous height, it has an exceptionally sparse confirmed climbing history.

Annapurna rises farther west to 8,091 meters, while Annapurna II dominates the eastern end of the Annapurna massif.

Chamar stands east of Manaslu in the Sringi Himal and reaches approximately 7,165 meters.

Dhaulagiri, Manaslu’s nearest higher neighbor in topographic terms, rises much farther west beyond the Annapurna massif to 8,167 meters.

🧭 Can Manaslu Be Climbed Today?

Yes. Manaslu is open for permitted mountaineering expeditions in Nepal and has become one of the more frequently attempted 8,000-meter peaks.

The Himalayan Database records hundreds of expeditions to the mountain, with the northeast side serving as the modern standard route.

Commercial expeditions generally establish several camps above Base Camp and use fixed ropes through major sections of the route. Many climbers use supplemental oxygen and employ high-altitude guides or Sherpa support.

The increase in infrastructure has made Manaslu more accessible to experienced expedition climbers, but “accessible” should not be confused with easy.

Climbers still have to negotiate crevasses, serac zones, steep snow, avalanche terrain, extreme weather, the death zone, and the exposed summit ridge.

🏔️ Is Manaslu an Easy 8,000-Meter Mountain?

Manaslu is sometimes described as one of the more achievable 8,000-meter mountains because its standard route is generally less technically difficult than routes on peaks such as K2, Annapurna, or Kangchenjunga.

That description can be misleading.

The standard route may not involve sustained high-grade rock climbing, but the objective hazards are serious. Avalanches and seracs have repeatedly killed climbers on terrain that was technically straightforward.

Altitude remains exactly as severe as on any other 8,000-meter peak.

The final summit ridge is also substantially more exposed than the broad slopes below it suggest.

A better description is that Manaslu has an established expedition route, not that it is an easy mountain.

⭐ Why Manaslu Is Remarkable

Manaslu combines extraordinary geography with one of the richest mountaineering histories of any Himalayan peak.

At 8,163 meters, it is the eighth-highest mountain on Earth. Its more than 3,000 meters of prominence make it one of the most independent great mountains in Asia, while its location between the Annapurna region and the eastern central Nepal Himalaya gives it a commanding position above the Budhi Gandaki Valley.

Its climbing history began not simply with a summit attempt but with years of exploration and negotiation. Japanese climbers reconnoitered the mountain in 1952, nearly reached the summit in 1953, were prevented from climbing by local opposition in 1954, rebuilt relationships with the community, and finally succeeded in 1956.

The next generations continually redefined what was possible.

The 1971 Japanese expedition forced a route through the immense northwest wall. Reinhold Messner climbed the south face in 1972. Japanese women made history in 1974 by completing the first female ascent of an 8,000-meter mountain. Polish climbers reached the summit in winter in 1984 and opened new terrain later that year. Kukuczka and Hajzer climbed another major line in 1986.

Modern Manaslu tells a different but equally interesting story. Its northeast route has become increasingly commercial, while debate over the true summit forced the climbing community to reconsider decades of summit claims. At the same time, elite climbers have continued opening difficult new routes, including the 2025 south-southwest-face ascent.

The mountain therefore bridges nearly every era of Himalayan mountaineering — exploration, siege expeditions, technical face climbing, women’s climbing history, Polish winter alpinism, lightweight ascents, commercial expeditions, and modern alpine-style new routes.

Manaslu may be known as the Mountain of the Spirit, but its history reveals an equally powerful mountain of persistence.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

View of snow covered Mount Manaslu (8 156 meters) with Yaks and Birendra Lake in the foreground in Himalayas, Manaslu Glacier in Gorkha District in northern-central Nepal.

How high is Manaslu?

Manaslu reaches 8,163 meters (26,781 feet) above sea level.

Where is Manaslu?

It is located in north-central Nepal in the Mansiri Himal, primarily within the Manaslu Conservation Area of Gandaki Province.

Is Manaslu the eighth-highest mountain in the world?

Yes. Manaslu ranks as the eighth-highest mountain on Earth.

What does Manaslu mean?

The name comes from the Sanskrit word manasa and is commonly translated as “Mountain of the Spirit.”

What was Manaslu formerly called?

Historical sources also use the name Kutang, particularly for the mountain and surrounding district.

Who first climbed Manaslu?

Japanese climber Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa made the first ascent.

When was Manaslu first climbed?

They reached the summit on May 9, 1956.

Who led the first-ascent expedition?

The expedition was led by veteran Japanese mountaineer Yuko Maki.

Who formed the second summit team?

Kiichiro Kato and Minoru Higeta reached the summit on May 11, 1956.

What route did the first ascenders use?

The Japanese expedition approached from the northeast through the Manaslu Glacier, Naike Col, upper glacier, and summit plateau.

When was Manaslu climbed for the second time?

Kazuharu Kohara and Motoyoshi Tanaka completed the second ascent on May 17, 1971, by a new route from the west.

Did Reinhold Messner climb Manaslu?

Yes. Messner made the first ascent of the south face on April 25, 1972, reaching the summit alone after Franz Jäger turned back.

Who were the first women to climb an 8,000-meter mountain?

Naoko Nakaseko, Masako Uchida, and Mieko Mori of Japan became the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak when they reached Manaslu’s summit with Jambu Sherpa on May 4, 1974.

Who made the first winter ascent of Manaslu?

Polish climbers Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski made the first winter ascent.

When was Manaslu first climbed in winter?

They reached the summit on January 12, 1984.

Did the first winter ascenders use supplemental oxygen?

No. Berbeka and Gajewski completed the winter ascent without bottled oxygen.

What is the Manaslu foresummit problem?

The summit ridge contains several high points, and for many years climbers frequently stopped on a foresummit below the actual 8,163-meter highest point. The Himalayan Database now distinguishes these from genuine summit ascents.

Is the true summit now reached on commercial expeditions?

Modern expeditions increasingly fix and follow ropes to the actual highest summit, particularly after renewed attention to the issue in 2021.

How prominent is Manaslu?

Manaslu has approximately 3,092 meters (10,144 feet) of topographic prominence.

Is Manaslu an ultra-prominent mountain?

Yes. Its prominence is more than double the 1,500-meter requirement for Ultra status.

What is Manaslu’s nearest higher mountain?

The nearest higher mountain is Dhaulagiri, approximately 105 kilometers away in topographic-isolation terms.

Is Manaslu dangerous?

Yes. Although its standard route is less technically difficult than those on some other 8,000-meter mountains, avalanches, seracs, crevasses, severe weather, altitude, and the exposed summit ridge make it a serious expedition.

Can Manaslu still be climbed?

Yes. Nepal permits mountaineering expeditions to Manaslu, and the northeast route is now a well-established commercial expedition route.

What is the newest major route on Manaslu?

A Russian team established a new route on the south-southwest face in October 2025, reaching the summit on October 22 after an alpine-style ascent without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa climbing support.

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