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Thursday, October 7, 2021

Trekkers return to Annapurna Circuit as Nepal throws gates wide open

For scenery and cultural diversity, this has long been considered the best trek in Nepal, and one of the world’s classic walks.

The Annapurna region has started welcoming quarantine-free tourists back to its popular trekking trails as Nepal tries to reboot its pandemic ravaged tourism industry.

Going all around the Annapurnas, the Annapurna Circuit trekking trail meanders across the central Nepal Himalaya through one of the most beautiful sceneries on the planet. The walking route is triply blessed with stunning landscapes, architecture and culture.

The Annapurna Conservation Area, a 7,629-sq-km protected area encompassing villages, hills, valleys, gorges and lakes with the snowy Annapurnas towering over them, is spread across the five districts of Manang, Mustang, Kaski, Myagdi and Lamjung.

In September, after Nepal removed the remaining coronavirus restrictions, 76 trekkers led the first foray into the Annapurna region. "By the first week of October, 96 foreign trekkers had entered the Annapurna Circuit through Manang," said Lekhnath Gautam, chief of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project unit office in Manang.

A few days ago, a group of 40 tourists, including seven differently-abled sight-seers, chartered a plane and landed at Manang's Humde Airport. “October seems to be encouraging,” said Binod Gurung, chairman of the Tourism Entrepreneurs Association Manang.

“All hotels were closed for a year and a half due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The arrival of trekkers back to the trekking trails has cheered the industry.”

On September 23, the government threw away the seven-day quarantine requirement and resumed issuing on-arrival visas to all vaccinated foreign travellers in a bid to bring the virus-ravaged tourism industry back to life.

Visitors should have received their last dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at least 14 full days prior to entering Nepal. Those who are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated will not get on-arrival visas. They have to get their entry permits from Nepali diplomatic missions, and also spend 10 days in quarantine in government-listed hotels.

Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit was named among the top 10 most incredible travel experiences in the world by Lonely Planet in October last year.

The world's number one travel guide publisher said in its latest Ultimate Travel List that Covid-19 resulted in travel restrictions around the world, and clipped travellers’ wings through 2020.

For scenery and cultural diversity, this has long been considered the best trek in Nepal, and one of the world’s classic walks.

The trail follows the Marsyangdi Valley to the north of the main Himalayan range and crosses a 5,416-metre pass to descend into the dramatic desert-like, Tibetan-style scenery of the upper Kali Gandaki Valley.

“There is no single restriction on the Annapurna Circuit. It’s fully open for all visitors,” said Bishnu Lamichhane, chief district officer of Manang. “All trekking routes, except a few damaged by rainfall, are safe.”

But visitors have to mandatorily submit a Covid-19 negative report obtained within the previous 72 hours before hitting the trail in Manang and Mustang. “We want to spread the message in the world that Annapurna is safe,” said Lamichhane.

The circuit received zero trekkers in January and February. In March, there were 66 trekkers which grew to 366 in April.

In spring, the government reopened the country for foreign travellers in the hope of lifting the economy and employment by reviving tourism.

Subsequently, Nepal received a record-high number of foreigners aspiring to climb the world’s tallest peak, Mt Everest, as the Covid-19 pandemic looked like petering out. But the Delta outbreaks and slow vaccine rollout again clouded the country's tourism.

After the second Covid-19 wave which struck in April, the country slid into a devastating crisis, and authorities enforced strict lockdown measures. About two months later, the restrictions were relaxed gradually; and since September 1, almost everything has been allowed to reopen.

As the government imposed the second lockdown on April 29, the number of trekkers on the Annapurna Circuit dropped to 48. June and July saw a lone trekker each. According to government statistics, there were three wanderers in August.

The Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Base Camp trekking routes count among the world's greatest adventure walking trails. Nearly 200,000 foreign tourists used to throng the Annapurna Conservation Area annually.

The Annapurna area was opened to foreign trekkers in 1977.

On June 3, 1950, Frenchmen Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first climbers to summit the forbidding Himalayan peak Annapurna I. This triumph, an unimaginable struggle against hardship, was completed without supplemental oxygen. It was also the first time an eight-thousander among the 14 in the world was climbed.

Herzog wrote a book called Annapurna about mountaineering which was published in 1952. More than 11 million copies were sold (till 2000) making it one of the best-selling books in the history of mountaineering.

This book has been regarded as a milestone for the development of mountaineering tourism in Nepal.

The original route of the Annapurna Circuit started at the market town of Dumre on the Kathmandu-Pokhara highway and ended in Pokhara, and took about 23 days to complete. After the construction of roads, the original 23-day walk has now been cut to only five days. 

Friday, October 1, 2021

First in 45 years, 22 climbers make rare autumn ascent of Manaslu main summit 2021

First in 45 years, 22 climbers make rare autumn ascent of Manaslu main summit

The main peak is 8,163 metres high, and the mountaineering fraternity has lauded the climbers for making it to the ‘true summit’.

The team gathered at 8,100 metres, a place where people usually stop because they can’t climb to the true summit because of the tricky ridge and risk. The team then traversed down a little below and again climbed to the main summit, which is 8163 metres. Photo courtesy: Jackson Groves' Facebook page

Mountaineers have scaled the main summit of Mt Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, in autumn, accomplishing a feat not seen since 1976.

Led by Mingma Sherpa, better known as Mingma G, 14 Nepali and eight foreign climbers achieved the rare feat on September 27 for the first time in 45 years. The main peak is 8,163 metres high, and the mountaineering fraternity has called it the “true summit”.

“Many foreigners have been debating if Manaslu’s main summit can be climbed in the autumn season. On September 27, we proved it,” Mingma G told the Post over the phone.

“In fact, Mt Manaslu has been climbed every year, and even reaching the fore-summit, which is just below the main summit, is accepted as a successful ascent. The main summit is 6-7 metres higher than the fore-summit, and it has never been climbed since 1976,” he said.

                             Photo courtesy: Jackson Groves' Facebook page

As the last short section, a snow-covered rock outcrop, is very steep, climbers normally do not venture there during the autumn and winter.

“It’s like a sharp knife ridge which is daunting and dangerous. So climbers normally go up to the fore-summit and return,” said Mingma G, who was one of the members of the K2 winter ascent. K2, the world's second highest mountain in Pakistan, was climbed in winter for the first time in January.

“The new route was difficult, but we did it with perfection.”

The team started their summit push from Camp 4 at 3am on September 27, and reached the summit at 9:40am.

“I hope there will be no more fore-summits in the future. Top is always Top, no more ups, everything below you,” Mingma G wrote on his Facebook page. “It was not easy. The team gathered at 8,100 metres, a place where people usually stop because they can’t climb to the summit because of the tricky ridge and risk. Then, we traversed down a little below and again climbed to the main summit,” said Mingma G.

“We explored the new route. Hopefully, it will help climbers to follow the footstep.”

                                Photo courtesy: Jackson Groves' Facebook page

Tobias Pantel, who keeps a record of every technical climb on the Himalayan Database, posted on his Facebook page: “This is a big day for Himalayan mountaineering!”

The Himalayan Database, the expedition archives of American journalist Elizabeth Hawley, is a large digital and published record of mountaineering in the Nepal Himalayas since 1903. It has congratulated Mingma G and his team on reaching the “true summit” and the highest point of Manaslu in autumn 2021.

“This is the second time this point was reached during the autumn season, and the first time since 1976,” the Himalayan Database wrote on its Facebook page.

“As this is a significant day for Himalayan mountaineering and will have implications on how the Himalayan Database will report on Manaslu summits, the team will sit together to come up with a strategy on how to deal with future and past summits of the world’s eighth highest peak.”

The Manaslu summit has been marked by real confusion over what constitutes the true summit, and who historically and currently reached it, famed mountaineer Alan Arnette said in a blog post.

                                Photo courtesy: Mount Manaslu Facebook page

One of the climbers, photographer Jackson Groves, flew a drone near the summit and captured stills and footage of the historic summit.

“For Manaslu, the issue is the last few metres to the summit is across a heavily corniced snow ridge that is virtually impossible to place protections (ice screws, pitons, etc) to protect climbers from crossing it,” he said.

“So this year, Mingma, building on his winter K2 success, wanted to make a point. This time he proved he made his true summit with the help of drone pictures and videos he shot. Instead of crossing the corniced ridge, he is shown taking a drop-down route across a 70-degree face then climbing to what apparently is the true summit. It appears genuine,” he wrote.

“Then all the other climbers who claimed a summit this season without following his path will be noted as reaching the fore-summit.”