Expedition Journal
Manaslu 2026:
A Season of Extremes — Our Full Expedition Coverage
Every climbing season on Manaslu is different. Record numbers of climbers arrived at Base Camp this autumn, hoping for a straightforward summit. What they found instead was a mountain that tested every team on it, ours included.
This article looks back at the full season: how it started, what went wrong, and why we believe the outcome, difficult as it was, was the right one.
A Record Season, and a Crowded Mountain
Manaslu is usually one of the more approachable 8,000-meter peaks, which is exactly why it drew so many climbers this year. Nepal's Department of Tourism listed close to 500 foreign climbers this season, with a similar number of local guides and support staff on the mountain, making it a record year for permits. Once the fixed ropes reached the top, that many people converging on one route created real congestion.
Climbers described long queues on the fixed ropes, especially through the crowded, icy section between Camp 1 and Camp 2, and on the narrow final ridge that leads to Manaslu's true summit, which can only hold one or two people at a time. A mountain built for small, careful teams was suddenly hosting a crowd. That combination, a narrow summit and hundreds of climbers all aiming for the same short weather window, set the stage for the difficulties that followed.
Traffic Jam in Manaslu 2026 Season
The Danger Builds: Avalanches on the Upper Slopes
Manaslu's upper mountain is known among guides for its avalanche-prone slopes, and this season made that reputation clear early. An avalanche swept down near Camp 4 and buried a freshly fixed section of rope, just hours before the rope-fixing team planned to use it. No one was hurt in that incident, but it was an early sign of how loaded and unstable the snowpack had become.
Persistent snowfall over the following days made conditions worse, not better. Layers of fresh, loose snow sat on top of older snow, creating the unstable slab conditions that guides watch for closely. Our own team, positioned on the mountain at the time, could see and feel how quickly things were changing.
Heavy Snowfall in Manaslu Base Camp
Tragedy on the Mountain: Two Lives Lost
During this period, a slab avalanche struck a tent at Camp 3, killing a foreign climber and his guide, who had pushed higher than the rest of their team in hopes of an early summit attempt. A rescue team later found them buried under roughly two meters of snow.
This loss affected the entire mountain, not just the team involved. Climbers, guides, and outfitters from every expedition, including ours, felt the weight of it. The ACE team holds the memory of these two lives in our thoughts, and we offer our condolences to their families and their expedition family.
A Narrow Escape for Our Own Team
During this stretch of unstable weather, one of our guide's tent was buried by snow. Luckily, he was not inside and had went outside just before the snow sturk the tent and buried it. There was no serious damage to any of our members or our climbing Sherpa guides. It was a close call, and a clear reminder of how quickly conditions on Manaslu can turn serious, even at camps that are normally considered safe.
We share this not to alarm anyone, but because it is part of an honest account of this season. Every member of our team, guides and clients alike, came home safe. We are deeply grateful for that.
One of our guide's tent buried by snow. (Luckily, the guide was outside the tent in that moment)
Racing the Cyclone
As if avalanche danger were not enough, the weather forecast added more pressure. A cyclone forming over the Bay of Bengal was tracked heading toward Nepal, expected to bring heavy new snow and force every team off the mountain before it arrived. That left teams still on Manaslu with a hard choice: wait it out for days or weeks, call off their climb and go home, or rush a summit attempt with less rest and more crowding on the ropes than anyone would prefer.
This kind of pressure is exactly when accidents tend to happen. Rushed decisions, tired climbers, and a shrinking safety margin are a difficult combination on any 8,000-meter peak.
Our Team's Highest Point: 7,100 Meters
Our team completed two full rotations to prepare for the summit push, and once the route was fixed, we climbed to 7,100 meters, the highest point reached by any team on Manaslu this season. Reaching that height took real skill, discipline, and teamwork from our Sherpa staff and our clients.
From there, the combination of unstable snow, the recent avalanche, and the approaching storm made it clear that going higher was not worth the risk. We turned back.
ACE Team's Acclimatization Rotation
Not Alone: How the Rest of the Mountain Responded
Our decision was not made in isolation. As conditions worsened, a large number of operators on Manaslu came to the same conclusion, ending their seasons and sending their climbers home. Almost all teams on the mountain have now left. A small number remain at Base Camp, hoping for one more weather window, but current forecasts make that increasingly unlikely, and it's likely most of them will also head home before the season is out.
Seeing so many experienced teams and guides reach the same decision, independently, said a lot about how serious this season's conditions really were. This was not one operator being overly cautious. It was a mountain-wide judgment call.
A Message: Respect the Mountain
Manaslu did not give us the summit this year. It gave us something else instead: a clear reminder of where we stand next to a mountain like this.
We are not greater than nature. No amount of preparation, experience, or determination changes that. The avalanche danger, the storm, the loss of life this season, none of it cared about summit dreams or expedition budgets. The mountain simply did what mountains do, and our job was to listen.
We believe real mountaineering is not only about reaching the top. It is about knowing the mountain deserves your respect more than your ambition does. This season asked a lot of every team on Manaslu, and we are proud that ours listened when it mattered most.
Manaslu will still be there next year. So will we, and we'll return when conditions, and the mountain, are ready to welcome us back.
About Alpinist Climber Expeditions
Alpinist Climber Expeditions has run Himalayan climbs and treks in Nepal since 2021, guided by IFMGA-certified mountain guides and experienced Sherpa climbing staff. Safety has always come first in every decision we make, on Manaslu and every mountain we climb.
