Madison Mountaineering Preparing for the Summit on Manaslu

The Madison Mountaineering Manaslu Expedition is awaiting a 'weather window' on the world's 8th highest peak.

Manaslu / Terray Sylvester - Madison Mountaineering

The Fall Climbing Season in the Himalayas

The ‘second’ climbing season in the Himalayas has begun. The first climbing season, which began in March and ended in June, is known as the ‘pre-monsoon’ period. The post-monsoon season begins in September and concludes in December. The jet stream is a powerful wind current that  thunders west-to-east over the Himalayas between the altitudes of 25,000 to 45,000 ft. The jet stream's normal position hovering over the Himalaya changes in early spring and early fall. This movement creates low-pressure cycles that shift the jet stream to the north, and into Tibet. As it shifts, the jet stream weakens and brings relative calm to the region. This creates a ‘weather window’, or ‘climbing window’, allowing mountaineers an opportunity to reach the ‘roof of the world’. There are fourteen 8,000-meter peaks in the world – all located in the Himalayas.

Madison Mountaineering has returned to the Himalaya for the fall climbing season. Madison Mountaineering is led by Garrett Madison who is currently leading an expedition on Cho Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world. His partner, Terray Sylvester, is leading the way on Manaslu. Manaslu is located in the Mansiri Himal range of the Nepalese Himalayas, stands 26,781 ft., and is the 8th highest mountain in the world. Known as the "Mountain of the Spirit," Manaslu is a prominent and revered peak targeted by elite climbers.

Manaslu / Pawan Thapa

Climbing Manaslu

Climbing Manaslu is a formidable challenge renowned for its technical difficulty and unpredictable weather. Manaslu was first summited on May 9, 1956 by Japanese Climbers Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen. With their historic achievement, Manaslu became an important and integral element of Japanese climbing culture.

The most common route to the summit of Manaslu is the Northeast Face. The climb begins from the village of Samagaun, where climbers trek to the base camp situated at approximately 15,750 ft. From base camp, climbers navigate a series of higher camps: Camp 1 at approximately 18,700 ft.; Camp 2 at around 21,000 ft.; Camp 3 near 22,300 ft.; and Camp 4 at 24,400 ft. The move to Camp 1 involves a steep, crevasse-laden, glacier climb. Moving from Camp 1 to Camp 2, climbers face extreme avalanche danger while traversing a dangerous section known as the "Japanese Cwm." The route to Camp 3 involves negotiating a series of ice walls. Above Camp 3, the high altitude becomes a significant factor, introducing extreme cold, strong winds, and reduced air.

Manaslu / Himalayan Ecological Trekking

Madison Mountaineering on Manaslu - 2024 Expedition

The Sylvester-led Madison Mountaineering expedition team is moving on Manaslu. They recently returned to base camp after a successful first rotation on the mountain, climbing above Camp 1 and into the icefall that separates Camp 1 from Camp 2. With some weather in the forecast over the next few days, the team plans to rest and prepare for a second acclimatization rotation before their summit push. Terray recently sent the following dispatch from base camp:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Manaslu (8156m/26,759ft) expedition – today is September 13th. Today we woke up to about a foot of fresh snow up in Camp 1 (5700m/18,700ft). It was still snowing heavily and there was more snow in the forecast, so we decided to descend to base camp (4859m/15,944ft) instead of continuing up to Camp 2 (6400m/21,000ft). We got here a bit before lunch, dried out, and we just wrapped up dinner and a movie.
We’re going to spend tomorrow resting and then prepare for our next rotation as soon as the weather permits! But, we had a really great rotation up to Camp 1. We spent two nights there and made a foray up into the icefall between Camps 1 and 2, so it was a good step as we acclimatize for our eventual summit push. – Terray Sylvester

Madison Mountaineering From Base Camp on Manaslu / Terray Sylvester

Madison Mountaineering is an elite mountain guiding company led by Garret Madison. Garrett is among the most accomplished and premiere mountain climbers in the world, having reached the summit of Mt. Everest 14 times. He has also reached the summits of K2, Lhotse, Nuptse, and all of the ‘Seven Summits’. In 2014, Garrett led successful ‘guided’ ascents of K2 in 2018 , 2021 and, most recently last spring in 2024.