Two climbers have died in an avalanche on Manaslu. Mohan Lamsal, managing director of the Nepalese expedition operator Makalu Adventure, told Nepalese media that contact with the two climbers at Camp 3, at an altitude of about 6,800 meters, was lost today. Four Sherpas were subsequently sent out to search for them.
According to Lamsal, their tent was struck by an avalanche and buried more than two meters deep under the snow. The victims were a Nepalese mountain guide from the region around the eight-thousander Makalu and his client, a native of India who lived in Germany and worked as an IT specialist.
Six members of the team had turned back earlier
According to Lamsal, they were part of an eight-member group from the operator that had set out toward the summit. Six team members turned back after heavy snowfall at Camp 2; only the two continued their ascent to Camp 3 on Saturday evening—with the goal of making an early summit push.
Almost all other teams had abandoned their summit attempts due to the snowfall and the resulting increased avalanche danger and had returned to base camp.
Already four deaths this Manaslu season
These are the third and fourth fatalities of this fall season on Manaslu. Previously, a climber from Singapore (near Camp 2) and a Nepalese porter (at base camp) had lost their lives, apparently as a result of high altitude sickness.
As of 18 September, the Nepalese Department of Tourism has issued 493 climbing permits for this fall for the 8,163-meter-high mountain in the western part of the country – more than ever before in a single season on Manaslu. This means the number of climbers on the world’s eighth-highest mountain has reached the level seen on Mount Everest, where a record number of 492 permits were issued last spring for foreign climbers attempting the summit.
On Friday, a nine-member Nepalese rope-fixing team had reached the summit of Manaslu, thereby securing the route to the highest point.
