Manaslu | 2016 NE Face

A UK expedition to Manaslu in 2016 via NE Face, led by Sean James. Summit reached on 2nd October 2016. 9 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9317
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MANA16314
Peak ID MANA
Year 2016
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality UK
Leaders Sean James
Sponsor Himalayan Guides Manaslu Expedition 2016
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Australia, Russia, USA
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2016-09-11
Summit Date 2016-10-02
Summit Time -
Summit Days 21
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 2
Termination Notes Stopped at fore-summit (8125m) due to end of fixed-rope
High Point (m) 8125
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 5
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 5
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(11/09,4800m),C1,C2,C3,C4(01/10,7400m),ForeSmt(02/10,8125m)
Route Notes Account by David Tilly: Summit push: We camped at camp 4, at 7400m and ate and drank ready for leaving the camp at 11:30pm. Our team was 5 people strong plus Sherpa support, one per person. 2 using supplemental oxygen, and three including myself without. All Sherpas had oxygen. I was first to leave camp with Ben Kane. Ben is a veteran high altitude climber guiding/climbing over 7 trips, but that elusive summit had remained unclimbed for him. Yuri and Mardana left at 12:30pm on oxygen and finally Sean left at 1:30pm. Sean is an incredibly strong climber, yet this was his first attempt without oxygen. It was windy when we left and the temperature was -20C plus the wind chill factor, which was – who knows, it was pretty windy but nowhere near desperate. After about two hours, my left foot was freezing, despite my anticipation that it would warm when I began to move for a while. I stopped to take a pair of socks off (my boots felt too cramped), and put new batteries in my heated socks. This had almost no effect and my toes continued to bother me, despite wiggling them continuously for the entire push. Within two hours, the other guys had caught me and Ben, and as I stopped to try to warm my feet, Ben passed me and I was alone on the mountain, with KB my climbing Sherpa. Becoming colder and colder, I yearned for the sun to come up, but it didn’t relent. Glancing at the time, it was 4;30am, still an hour before I would see the sun. As I approached 8,000m I began to reach the limits of my resolve. I was utterly exhausted, spent of all energy. No light, shivering violently. I have read tonnes of mountaineering literature, watch everything I could get my hands on to learn about what it’s like, to try and make it safely back when I finally took my shot at this challenge. I asked KB to radio to Ang Phurba (our leading climbing Sherpa), to ask him where they were. I could see head lamps ahead in the distance, but couldn’t discern how far away they were. The call came back to say they were at the second summit rise, going for the top. The lights seemed as though I could reach out and touch them, yet I knew they were at least an hour ahead of me. As I realised this, I heard Ed Viesturs voice in my head, saying getting up is optional, getting down is mandatory. As the snow began to move and change in front of my very eyes, mildly hallucinating, I suddenly felt like I had just woken up and found myself in this position, I decided enough was probably enough and it was time to turn around, not wanting to be left on the side of this mountain as a relic of what could have been. I told KB enough was enough and it was time to descend, still a massive undertaking! KB got on the radio and then turned to me and offered me his oxygen mask and told me that we could get to the top if I took it. Whilst only at a flow rate of 1litre a minute, which max is 4 litre’s per minute, the difference was incredible! My left foot was warm in 5 mins flat and I felt revived. I began my struggle upwards once more. The work was still unbelievably hard even with the oxygen, but just about manageable, and I wasn’t hallucinating any more. An hour later we arrived on the summit. The wind was kind enough to die momentarily, to allow me to get out the handmade flag I had made with the logo for A4D and my wife. Two messages I had wished to convey from the summit. It all seemed very matter of fact. Get the flag, get the photo and get off this mountain. The time was approx. 8am. My decision to use the oxygen was bitter sweet. I had said ‘I would rather get to 7800m and turn around, than use oxygen’. Yet I had taken it to finish the last 140m. At first I felt like I had failed. But on reflection, I think I had made the biggest success possible. I had made the correct decision to descend for the right reasons. The kind offer of the oxygen from KB meant nothing more than allowing me to stand on the top. It seemed sabotage to refuse and not to finish what I had started, being so close. But I know deep down I had the resolve to make the right decision at the right time, even though an incredibly hard one! After organising the required photo’s, I wanted, I declined the further use of Oxygen from KB and decided I was done with it and it was all downhill from here anyway. We began to descend. Back off oxygen, it was excruciating hard work! Several hours (I cannot remember how long) we arrived at camp 4 where I collapsed and lay in the snow. I wanted to just sleep, rest. The Sherpa Phurba Rita (15 Everest Summits to his name) said we were not staying here and we had to go down once he had stripped camp four. I continued to lay there until pushed out of the camp. As we approached camp 3, I felt in the pit of my stomach, they had stripped this camp also. I sat in the snow, and said to KB, call Ang Phurba and ask what the hell is going on. I could not go on any further. The message came back over the Radio. Camp stripped, descend to camp 2. I felt utterly deflated, finished, yet I had no choice. I knew that every metre we descended equalled more safety for us. Like a zombie, I staggered down towards camp two, hoping this whole ordeal would be over soon. Arriving at Camp 2, Ben was there. We hugged and congratulated each other. I was beginning to come around and felt I had more energy, a side effect of the thicker air no doubt. Ben was packing his rucksack and said we were going all the way to base camp. I just laughed, and thought to myself as we had said jokingly all the trip ‘harden the f**k up’ as a joke to one another. I began to pack up and with a 25kg load, imagined myself as a true Sherpa, vowing to dump a load at camp 1 and send up someone else the following day to get it. Base camp was still 5 hours away and we had to descend with a big load through the ice field, which at this time of the day, would be getting more and more unstable as the sun baked it. This passage certainly being the most dangerous part of the entire climb. As if the day’s events had not tested me enough, we arrived at the 4 ladder crossing. I could do nothing but laugh. Instead of crossing a single crevasse, as we had done on ascent, now I was expected to jump across the fist crevasse onto a snow ledge like something out of Cliffhanger with Stallone, and then onto what I can only describe as a joke of a ladder crossing. The ladders were literally falling apart, and curved down into the crevasse as the lashings had loosening over time. If they would take my weight, it would be a miracle, but with no other options, off I went. Arriving at the other side having been hyperventilating the entire way across, a feeling of relief overwhelmed me. I then held the ropes tight for Phurba Ridar and KB to cross. They followed…. carefully! Arriving at Camp 1, I dumped some weight and set off right away for base camp ahead of the Sherpas. The light fading fast and the temperature dropping, I realised I had no head torch or suitable clothes, all in the packs of others or in tents. I remembered I had an emergency head torch which turned out to be as much use as a chocolate fire guard. After an hour of descending off the glacier and the moraine, I had no choice but to sit down, and wait for someone to come down with a light. The two Sherpas arrived half an hour later. Luckily the weather remained fair. I finally arrived at Base camp at 8pm, a shell of my former self. I had one drink and fell into my tent, exhausted but having achieved the summit and full descent all within 24 hrs. There was no elation, only sleep.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Himalayan Guides
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2460850
Year 2016
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) ne face

Members

9 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Sean Joseph David James M 1970 UK Leader Sheffield, S Yorkshire, England Alpine leader & guide Details Other expeditions
Mardana Montana Mayginnes M 1982 USA Climber - - Details Other expeditions
Benjamin James Kane M 1981 Australia Climber City Beach, WA, Australia Rigger Details Other expeditions
Yuri Kruglov M 1972 Russia Climber Sevastopol, Russia - Details Other expeditions
David Robert Tilly M 1979 UK Climber Basingstoke, Hampshire, England - Details Other expeditions
Ang Phurba Sherpa M 1985 Nepal H-A Worker Khembalung, Yaphu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Phurba Ridar Bhote M 1958 Nepal H-A Worker Hatiya-1, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Lhakpa/Lakpa Bhote M 1984 Nepal H-A Worker Hatiya-2, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Kul Bahadur Thapa Magar M 1970 Nepal H-A Worker Taluwa-9, Okhaldhunga - Details Other expeditions

References

1 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MANA16314 - - http://www.action4diabetics.org/from-basingstoke-to-the-summit-of-mt-manaslu-dave-tilleys-story/ - - -