| Manaslu (8,163m) was first climbed
in 1956 by a Japanese expedition. Its name comes from
the Sanskrit word manasa, meaning "intellect"
or “soul" It is the same root word as that
for Manasarover, the holy lake near Mt. Kailash in Tibet.
Just as the British considered Everest their mountain.
Manaslu has always been a Japanese mountain.
HW Tillman and Jimmy Roberts photographed Manaslu during
a trek in 1950. but the first real survey of the peak
was made by a Japanese expedition in 1952.
A Japanese team made the first serious attempt on the
peak from the Buri Gandaki valley in 1953. When another
team followed in 1954, the villagers of Samagaon told
them the first team had been responsible for an avalanche
that destroyed a monastery and refused to let the 1954
expedition climb. The expedition set off to climb Ganesh
Himal instead.
Despite a large donation for the rebuilding of the
monastery, subsequent Japanese expeditions, including
the one that made the first ascent in 1956, took place
in an atmosphere of animosity and mistrust. The second
successful Japanese expedition was in 1971. There was
a South Korean attempt in 1971, and in April 1972 an
avalanche that killed five climbers and 10 Sherpas ended
the second made the fourth ascent of Manaslu as a member
of a Tyrolean expedition that climbed from the Marshyangdi
valley in 1972.
Manaslu 8,163m
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