Pune Mountaineers Prepare To Scale 26000ft High Mt Manaslu

August 29, 2017

Snow capped peak of Mount Manaslu in Nepal

Climbing to new heights and making Pune proud is city-based mountaineering organisation, Giripremi that has flagged off the first ever civilian expedition to Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world.

“This is the first civilian expedition from India to climb Mount Manaslu. We are a team of four and we plan on completing the journey in 45 days,” explains Umesh Zirpe, veteran mountaineer and the expedition leader. This mountain is 8,163 metres above sea level which is more than 26,000 feet high. Ashish Mane, Ganesh More, who have earlier scaled the heights of Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Makalu and Mount Cho Oyu, will be joined by Akshay Patke.

L-R: Ganesh More, Ashish Mane, Nitin Naik, Vijay Joshi, Umesh Zirpe, Anand Palande, Akshay Patke

All the members undertaking this have gone through rigorous physical and mental training to maintain strength and energy levels. “We have all been training by trekking the Sinhagad Fort and Taljai Hills. For mental stability, we have been meditating and practicing pranayama. Everyone knows that Everest is the tallest mountain but scaling Manaslu is quite challenging too. The last ridge of the mountain is very sharp and technically tough.

Any peak above 7,500 metres is considered dangerous to climb. Oxygen levels dip down to just two to three per cent. The temperatures are normally minus 30 degrees to minus 60 degrees Celsius. And, the winds blow at the speed of 70 to 80 kilometres per hour,” says Zirpe.

Manaslu also means ‘mountain of the spirit’ and Manas in Sanskrit means intellect. It was first scaled in 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, who were members of a Japanese expedition. The mountain, situated in Gorkha district in Nepal, is filled with long ridges and glaciers and is surrounded by more than 10 peaks that are 6,500 metres in height each. It is preceded by Mount Dhaulagiri and succeeded by Nanga Parbat.

The team will leave from Pune to Kathmandu on September 1 and will leave from Kathmandu to start the climb on September 4. From there, it will take them around six to seven days to reach the base camp of Mount Manaslu.

Since 2012, Giripremi has led five successful civilian expeditions to Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse, Mount Makalu, Mount Cho Oyu and Mount Dhaulagiri. With this, they will embark on their sixth journey in an attempt to scale all the 14 tallest mountains.