Gorkha, September 22
Climbers attempting to scale Mount Manaslu have begun returning home midway through their expeditions as heavy snowfall and continuous rainfall have made weather conditions unfavourable for mountaineering.
Karma Chhewang Lama, ward chair of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-1, Samagaun, near Mount Manaslu, said climbers started returning after waiting for nearly two weeks without any improvement in the weather. He said continuous rainfall in the Manaslu region has resulted in around five feet of snowfall in the surrounding areas.
“We have never seen anything like this. I don’t know what has happened. It keeps raining and snowing,” Lama said. “The government has also urged people to remain alert from September 24 to 28. That is why climbers have been returning in large numbers.” He said climbers were unlikely to return to the mountain for expeditions this season even if the weather improves.
Local businessperson Prabal Lama said that although rainfall was generally rare in the region in previous years, it has been raining continuously for the past two weeks this year. “People have been regularly coming to the base camp since 2014. I have never seen anything like this in these 12 years,” he said. “There has been heavy rainfall and snowfall this year. There is up to three feet of snow at the base camp, while Camps I, II and III have already received seven to eight feet of snow.”
He said climbers had started returning after assessing the risks. However, Mingmar Chhiring Lama, a hotel operator in Samagaun, said many climbers were still in the area despite some returning due to the changed weather conditions.
“Climbers have returned in previous years when they could not climb the mountain. This year, however, more of them have returned, probably because of the unfavourable weather,” he said. “So far, around 10 per cent may have returned.”
Around 500 climbers have obtained permits to climb the 8,163-metre Mount Manaslu this season. Last year, 366 male and 127 female climbers from 67 countries, representing 41 teams, obtained permits to climb the mountain. The government collected Rs 224.814 million in revenue from the permits.
—RSS
