Manaslu Ski Descent 2009 Part One: Introduction

On September 28th 2009, I became the first female to ski Manaslu, the 8th highest mountain in the world (8156 m).  I also inadvertently became the first female to make a complete ski descent of an 8000 metre peak.



Manaslu: crying out for a ski descent


I decided that I wanted to ski down Manaslu in October 2008, whilst leading a trek to Everest Base Camp.  I had a chance encounter with a Himalayan expedition leader, who'd just returned from Manaslu and was brimming with enthusiasm for a mountain he described as magical.  In the short time that we chatted, Henry had convinced me that it would be a good idea to join his expedition to Manaslu the following year.  I think the clinching factor was when he said "I don't know anything about skiing, but I'm pretty sure you could ski it".

Manaslu is located in Nepal, around 40 miles east of Annapurna, in the Mansiri Himal range.  Its name means "Mountain of the Spirit" in Sanskrit.  It is also known as Kutang in Tibetan, which means "flat place".  It didn't feel like a flat place.

It doesn't get a huge number of ascents compared the other 8000ers: in 2008, 297 people had been to the summit - compared to 4000 on Everest and 3000 on Cho Oyu.  That aspect really appealed to me.

It doesn't have a fantastic safety record: as of May 2008 there had been 53 deaths on the mountain, making it the 4th most dangerous 8000m peak (behind Annapurna, Nanga Parbat and K2).  That aspect wasn't quite so appealing: but we concluded that statistics were skewed by 15 people all dying in the same avalanche in 1972.

In 1950 Tilman, the great British explorer, made a reconnaissance mission to Manaslu and concluded that there was a direct route to the summit - although they didn't attempt to climb it.

To be continued.......