January 18, 2023: One foreigner and six Sherpa climbers successfully climbed Manaslu (8,163 meters) in winter, the eighth-highest mountain in the world, which is considered very complicated and dangerous.
The climbing team included the famous Spanish mountaineer Alex Txikon, and six Nepalese sherpas Chepal Sherpa, Tenjen Sherpa (Llama), Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Mingtemba Sherpa, Pemba Tasi Sherpa, and Gyalu Sherpa. They managed to reach the peak of Manaslu on the morning of the 6th of January.
Chepal Sherpa, a mountain guide from Molung-7 Talkot in Okhaldhunga, Nepal, said about his winter expedition experience, ‘It is historic to succeed in the real summit in this season. We managed to reach the peak of Manaslu after 10 days of hard work. Chhepal Sherpa, who has been in the mountain climbing field for the past 13 years, has climbed seven mountains higher than 8,000 meters. He said that since 2016, he has been doing winter expeditions with Alex and added, ‘We had many experiences of failed attempts. This time we succeeded in Manaslu. Chepal Sherpa informed that two members of the team trying to climb Manaslu had frostbite and one member had returned from the death zone.
Similarly, 32-year-old mountain guide Tenzen Sherpa (Lama) said that he experienced a lot of cold during this winter expedition in Manaslu. He said that mountain climbing in winter is more difficult and risky than in autumn, but he said that his third attempt was successful and he could not express the difficulty during climbing. Tenzen Sherpa, a resident of Makalu rural municipality, Nepal, has been involved in mountain climbing for the past six years. He started mountain climbing from Dhaulagiri. So far, Tenzen Sherpa has climbed Everest four times, Lhotse four times, Dhaulagiri three times, Makalu twice, Nanga Parbat once, and Manaslu twice. Tenzen said, ‘We successfully climbed Manaslu in 10 days, that too the real summit. From Camp-1 to Camp-3 it was a bit awkward.
Another mountain guide who recently climbed Manaslu is Mingtemba Sherpa from Makalu rural municipality, Nepal. He started climbing the mountain in 2015. Mingtemba has climbed Everest five times, Annapurna once, Manaslu five times, K2 twice, and Broad Peak once. He said that climbing the mountains in autumn and winter is very different and said, “When climbing in autumn, the temperature was not so much challenging as compared to winter”.But now while climbing it was cold around minus 35-40 degrees. While climbing Manaslu, we were very afraid that we might get ‘frostbite’.Mingtemba said that he did not think that climbing Manaslu would be successful at first, but it was successful.
Pemba Tasi Sherpa of Makalu rural municipality Nepal started climbing the mountain in 2019. He is only 23 years old now and he managed to climb Manaslu for the first time, that too in winter. Pemba, who climbed Mt. Everest in 2021, said that last year he tried to climb Manaslu in winter with the current team but was unsuccessful. He said, “Even if it was not successful last year, will it be successful this time?” I thought.It was sucessful
Mountain guide Gyalu Sherpa of Mailung-7 Talkot, Nepal started climbing the mountain in 2019. So far, he has successfully climbed three 8000ers. He said, “I thought that Manaslu would not be successfully climbed during the winter season.”The wind was blowing a lot. Gyalu says that the climbing was successful because there was not much snow this time. Gyalu said, “One Sherpa guide had a problem with his oxygen regulator from about 6,700 meters, and he did not have any oxygen.” We both used my oxygen in turn.
Pasang Nurbu Sherpa of Makalu Rural Municipality, Nepal, started climbing the mountain in 2014. He started his attempt to climb the mountain for the first time from Manaslu.Pasang, who has successfully climbed Mount Everest four times, Manaslu eight times, Lochte once, Makalu three times, Annapurna once, Dhaulagiri once, Cho Oyu once, Gasharbram-2 once, Broad Peak once, and has successfully climbed Mount Ama Dablam in winter. He said that the attempt to climb Manaslu this time was successful because the team was united and the weather supported it.
