Manaslu 29th August 2026 Expedition News

Leader: Stu Peacock

16th September 2026 - We've Been Busy

On the 13th we headed up to camp 1 and slept there. The camp was still in the cloud, but occasionally we were rewarded with views of what lay ahead.

On the 14th we were meant to head to camp 2 and back. This as it turned out would have been a very long day and the weather made us decide to relax and just go for a walk to the top of camp 1 and see where the route takes us through the seracs. On the 15th we upped sticks and made our acsent to camp 2. It took between 7 and 8 hours for all the team to reach camp. It was busy on the fixed lines and a couple bottlenecks for people trying to get up and down at the same time slowed things down.

However it did feel an achievement to make it and in the morning we were rewarded with some amazing viewa. Today we made our way back down to base camp to rest for a couple of days before heading back up the mountain.

11th September 2026 - Rotation to Camp 1 Complete

We left the drizzly rain of base camp behind us, and ventured for the first time up the mountain to camp 1, where it was at least snowing lightly, which was a nice change. It actually took a while to get out of base camp with all the teams here.

The rock step out of camp was scaled with ease by everyone. We then headed over to crampon point, which is about 100m further up the glacier than it was 3 years ago.

From there we headed out onto the glacier. The route to camp 1 was relatively direct, with only a few crevasses to step across. We made it to camp 1 in around 3.5 hours and back down to base camp in 2 to 3 hours.

Tomorrow, we have a rest day before we start our first rotation on the mountain to camp 1 and camp 2.

10th September 2026 - We Are Blessed!

Today was Puja day, the good luck blessing for our expedition. We started outside, but the rain eventually forced a retreat to the mess tent. 2.5 hours later, a record, by even our sherpas reckoning, we are ready to start moving up the mountain.

Hopefully the rain will ease off to allow us to do the skills refresher after lunch today.

Tomorrow we are planning our first ascent to camp 1 and back.

9th September 2026 - Clear Morning

We woke this morning to clear skies and a cracking view of Manaslu.

The sherpas have been finishing the puja area and the starlink has been mounted properly next to the mess tent.

Showers have been had, but clothes washing has been delayed due to rain.

We're relaxing today and settling into the routine of base camp life.

8th September 2026 - Team at Base Camp

We are now at base camp. It took between 5 and 6 hours to get here. Thankfully the rain didn't amount to much, so we were dry when we arrived. The sherpas have been to camp 1 today and the rope fixing team are still fixing between camp 1 and camp 2.

We now have a few days to settle in and acclimatise to this height of 4900m.

6th September 2026 - In Samagon

The weather gods were kind to us as we crossed the Larkye La pass. Despite the rain and odd rumble of thunder during the night, it remained cloudy, but dry until we got down to near Dharamasala. The light rain stayed with us until we got down to Samdo. It was good to feel the challenge of breaking 5100m, it reminds us of what lies ahead on the mountain.

After the 9 hour walk of yesterday, today was just a short walk off 2 hours down to the bustling village of Samagon, the last village before bae camp. We will spend two nights here acclimatising before we head up to base camp on 8th September.

4th September 2026 - Ahead of Schedule!

Stu contacted the Adventure Peaks office to report that they are one day ahead of schedule. Speaking to us from an altitude of 4,300m (Fedi), our team is on course for an early 5:30am start tomorrow morning. They hope to be on Larkya La (5160m) by 10am.

Today, they have been treating to magnificent views of Manaslu.

2nd September 2026 - 7 Clients 6 Sleeping Bags

So when splitting equipment on what should go to base camp and what should stay with us along the trek, then a sleeping bag is pretty high on the list of essentials. Well you'd think that, but for one client, who will remain nameless, he has decided to let both sleeping bags go to base camp...

Thankfully there are plenty of blankets and we might be able to stop the mules tomorrow, or the day after and pull it out.

We are now in Gowa at a height of 2500m. The driving pretty much operated as scheduled, just 15 minutes behind with one small landslide.

The cloud was in for the walk from Tilche with a little bit of drizzle, but it didn't dampen our spirits, as it wad nice to be on the trail making progress.

Tomorrow we will walk to Bhimtang, which actually puts us a day ahead of schedule. This is because of the road between Dharapani and Tilche saving some of the walking time.

1st September 2026 - On our way... Sort of.

Despite our hopes for an early briefing, we couldn't get away until 3:40pm, so it was decided that a 9 hour drive to Besisahar was not going to be a good choice. Instead we drove 5.5 hours to Suaraha in Chitwan.

Despite the long drive it was nice to feel we are now making some progress, albeit further south than we had anticipated.

Tomorrow we leave at 7:30am and it should take around 3 hours to get to Besisahar. We'll have lunch there, then transfer to jeeps for our 3.5 hour journey to Tilche, which is a bit further on than Dharapani, our original destination. We then plan to walk a further hour to Goa, where we will stay for the night.

30th August 2026 - In Kathmandu

The team all arrived safely into Kathmandu. Kit checks have been done and the odd bit of shopping for last minute things. We headed to K-Too's for dinner, holding off on the cultural evening until Monday, so that Andrew didn't miss it.

Part of Monday was spent doing the final food shop for snacks and lunch stuff on the mountain. The ministry had to be delayed to Tuesday.

24th August 2026 - Nepal Here We Come!

This weekend the team will depart for Nepal. Sunday will be spent shopping, kit checks and relaxing after the flights. Monday will be the leaders briefing at the ministry and then we'll hit the road on Tuesday for Besisahar, and the start of our 8000m adventure to climb Manaslu - the Mountain of Spirit!