Cybercast

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday we had our Puja (blessing) ceremony in Basecamp with our team.  The purpose of this is to ask for safe passage on the mountain and although serious it’s always a fun day with our whole team together.  It was raining just a little at the beginning but towards the end of the Puja the clouds broke and it was very nice weather for several hours.  We took that as a great sign of the Puja!

Today we are getting all of our gear organized and ready to head up to Camp 1 (18,800ft) tomorrow.  We will spend a couple nights at C1 and then move up to C2 (20,700ft) for a couple nights.  From there we will see how the team is doing, the weather, and see if the fixed lines to the summit are in, and we may continue on up the mountain for the summit.  But if we need to take a little rest or the weather isn’t looking good then we will return to Basecamp for a couple days before heading back up the mountain for the summit push.  I will update you here

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

All is well here in Manaslu Basecamp.  We have been resting and getting our gear organized and today took a hike up to the start of the glacier towards camp 1. The weather is now very nice, some sun, and clouds but no rain:-).  Tomorrow we will have our Puja blessing ceremony in camp and enjoy some time with our entire crew.  Then tentatively we will be heading up on the mountain to Camp 1 on the 14th or 15th.  Everyone is feeling great and excited to start climbing.

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

Today we had a nice relaxing and restful day today in Basecamp.  It was a good day to eat good food and unpack and get organized in our tents.  After breakfast we had showers enjoyed a rainy day in the dining tent.  The weather clearing up now and we are getting some nice views of the surrounding peaks.  Tomorrow we will get our technical gear ready and maybe go on a short hike around Basecamp.  The team is feeling great and happy to be here in Basecamp!

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

Today we arrived to Basecamp!  The team is doing great and we are excited to be here at 15,900ft.  I will update again tomorrow but are having some connectivity issues. (Photos from our hike yesterday above Samdo).

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

We are doing great here on our trek near Manaslu.  Yesterday we hiked from Samagaun, to Samdo and are now at 12,700ft.  It is just a short couple of hour hike but was beautiful and we lucked out with great weather (no rain).  After arriving we had a cake for Tom’s birthday and mostly spent the rest of the day playing cards in the tea house.  Everyone is feeling good and excited for another acclimatization hike today before heading back down valley to Samagaon for our last night before heading to Basecamp.  I will send some more photos tomorrow!

Ben Jones