Cybercast

Hello Everyone,

It’s been a tough couple of days here on Manaslu. The weather recently is improving but we’ve had an incredible amount of precipitation over the last couple of weeks at all levels of the mountain. There have now been two avalanches between Camp 2 and Camp 4 affecting many. The current forecast is sunny high on the mountain for several days, but with high winds loading with snow the same slopes which have already been active with avalanches, then comes more precipitation next week. I am not comfortable with any of our crew and team members climbing from Camp 3 to Camp 4 at this time and so have made the tough decision to stop our summit bid. It’s never an easy decision, but I know it’s the right one to keep all of our team safe. We will clear the mountain of all of our supplies in the next couple of days and make our way back to Kathmandu. Dan and Jim have been the best team members I could have asked for in this challenging climb and I thank them for having the climbing experience to understand and fully accept the decision positively. That’s a mountaineers mindset. We can’t always get to the summit but we can still have a positive and successful expedition.

I will report back as we make it safely back to Kathmandu in the next few days.

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

We have descended back to Basecamp from Camp 2 today. Our entire crew and team are safe and doing well. I have some photos to share and will get them sent out tomorrow.

There has been an avalanche between camp 3-4 yesterday that has sadly injured many. We still have not heard all the details but know that many of the more seriously injured have been helicoptered off of the mountain.

We will be looking at the weather, fixed lines, and of course the safety of possibly making another summit bid in the next week or so. But for now we are thankful have our entire crew and team safely in Basecamp.

We will be resting here in Basecamp for the next few days.

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hi everyone this is Ben calling in from Camp 2 on Manaslu. We’re doing well, all tucked into our tents after dinner and ready for bed. There was an avalanche up above Camp 3- between Camp 4 and Camp 3, we don’t have all the details just yet. We’re in a safe spot here, and we’ll be making a big decision here moving forward. I’ll keep you updated here on what we plan to do as of right now we’re in a safe spot. We will see what tomorrow brings and make decision on whether we keep going up or head back down. Thanks for following along everyone is doing well out here! We’ll keep in touch and let you know what we decide to do moving forward tomorrow.

Hi everyone, this is Ben calling in with the Manaslu team. We’re at Camp 1 for our summit rotation, made good time today coming up, good weather. We just finished up dinner here at camp, the team is doing well and we’ll be heading up to camp 2 tomorrow! We’ll wake up, have breakfast, the climbing sherpas will come up and help us move sleeping bags and pads up to camp 2. Weather is looking descent in the forecast as well, we’re excited to keep climbing higher on Manaslu!

Hello Everyone,

The weather is looking pretty good several days out so we will be heading up to Camp 1 tomorrow after breakfast. If all goes well, and the weather continues to look good we will continue to all of the camps (2,3,4), before heading to the summit. A lot less snow and rain is predicted but with that usually comes wind, so we might have a little wind on the summit day, but should be a manageable amount. The team is ready after several rest days here at Basecamp. I will be calling in to report our progress up the mountain!

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones