Manaslu
(8163m) was summited in 1956 by
a Japanese expedition team.
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 Budhi 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. The
expedition set off to climb Ganesh
Himal instead.
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.
