Manaslu | 1997 NE Face

A Slovakia expedition to Manaslu in 1997 via NE Face, led by Peter Sperka. Summit reached on 8th October 1997. 11 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 2396
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID MANA97307
Peak ID MANA
Year 1997
Season 3
Host Country 1
Route 1 NE Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Slovakia
Leaders Peter Sperka
Sponsor Slovak Mountaineering Ski Alpinist Expedition 1997
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 61st
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach Helicopter->Samagaon
Basecamp Date 1997-09-17
Summit Date 1997-10-08
Summit Time -
Summit Days 21
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8163
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 11
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 2
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(17/09,4600m),C1(20/09,5800m),C2(23/09,6800m),C3(06/10,7400m),Smt(08/10)
Route Notes Late to BC because 5 days bad weather delayed flight from KTM. For top started from BC 3 Oct: Sperka, Kardhordo and Rybansky. 6 Oct same trio to go to top from C3 together but Kardhordo felt unwell (vomiting probably from altitude, but he said this was normal for him) but stubborn. On 8 Oct it was very cold and other two slow to emerge from tent while Sperka had to wait an hour for them (and he wearing only ski boots). Kardhordo very slow. Sperka went to top with last Spaniard and met Rybansky not far below top. Sperka saw Rybansky descending and met Kardhordo 5:30 pm at 8000m still going up, tried to convince Kardhordo to descend but still determined to go to top. Sperka continued down with weak Spaniards and finally reached C3 at 8:00 pm and 8:15 came Rybansky but Kardhordo never came. On 9 Oct Japanese found Kardhordo's rucksack and ski pole below summit fixed ropes on ridge, may be 20m below top; don't know whether such a tired man actually reached top or was blown. Strong wind; body not seen. 9 Oct when Kardhordo and Japanese summit team reported by walkie-talkie they found only rucksack and pole, other 2 started down (about 10:30 am for C2 in wind and much snow and 100m ice block which very dangerous from avalanche. At this block at about 7300m Sperka descended first on fixed rope quickly but Rybansky down ropes very slowly and out of sight of Sperka but Sperka not afraid for him and went to C2 alone. Japanese later reported Rybansky found dead, attached to fixed rope and lying on his back, perhaps killed by heart failure; he is still there. All expeditions stopped climbing now in bad winds and lot of new deep snow with avalanche danger. 8 members reached C2, all to C1. Sperka was wearing ski boots on 8th Oct rather than much warmer climbing boots because he had hoped to ski down mountain. One teammate fell into very deep crevasse but the ski on his feet prevented his plunging irretrievably to the bottom. Attached report to Reuters: 16 Oct - Austrian Manaslu's leader and deputy leader: Sperka used Austrians oxygen in C3 on descent - Sperka centered on himself, not concerned about others - Japanese university team (Mitani) helped Sperke and Rybansky find C3 on night of 8th - the members and Sherpas switched lights on and off to making blinking signal for them to let them know where camp was - Japanese Sherpa helped Rybansky descend from C3 and was with him when he became too weak to continue, collapsed and died - Sperka never went back to look for him. BC-Nepal-Mountaineering by Elizabeth Hawley Kathmandu, Oct. 15 (Reuters) - The first Slovaks ever to reach the summit of the world's eighth highest mountain, Mt. Manaslu in the Nepalese Himalaya, gained the top of this 8163-meters-high peak on Oct 8, but their victory ended tragically for two of the three summit-team members, their leader told Reuters here soon after his return to Kathmandu. The expedition leader, Peter Sperka, said that he and two teammates, Jurak Kardhordo and Miroslav Rybansky, left their last camp at 7400 meters together on their summit day, Oct 8, but then made their way separately towards the top. Sperka, a 41-year-old mountain guide from Tatranske Zruby, was first to the top, the first Slovak ever to set foot on this lofty summit, and on his descent while still very close to the top he passed Rybansky, also 41 and a guide, who lived in Strbske Pleso, still on his way up. At 5:30 pm, Sperka met Kardhordo, 30 years old, a full-time climber (but not a guide) from Bratislava, who had not been well and was only at 8000m and still struggling upwards to make his own "conquest" of Manaslu. Sperka judged it was much too late in the day for a safe summit ascent of atleast one more hour and return to camp. He attempted to convince his colleague to come back with him. But Kardhordo was stubbornly determined to get to the top and continued very slowly on up. "He just kept climbing." Sperka returned to camp at 8:00 pm, well after nightfall. 15 minutes later Rybansky joined him. But Kardhordo never came. The next day some Japanese climbers reported to Sperka by walkie-talkie radio that they had just found Kardhordo's backpack and ski pole 200 meters below the summit. His body was never seen, and Sperka said it is not known whether Kardhordo actually reached his goal in his extreme fatigue and whether he was blown off his feet by the fierce winds or collapsed and fell down the mountain's precipitous south face. After hearing the bad news from the Japanese, Sperka and Rybansky left camp late that morning to continue their descent in more strong winds and through deep snow. They came to a barrier of a very large block of ice, and they had to make use of ropes fixed here to enable them to move on down. Sperka said he managed to move quickly down the ropes, but Rybansky was very slow and Sperka soon was out of sight of him and reached the next camp alone in mid-afternoon. Now Rybansky failed to join him. The Japanese later reported that they had found Rybansky dead, lying on his back and attached to the fixed rope. Sperka speculates that his heart had failed. Sperka rejoined his eight other teammates safely, but his toes had become frostbitten in the extreme cold and deep new snow. He is able to walk and is confident the toes will heal. His expedition had climbed without any Nepalese Sherpa helpers or any aritificial oxygen.
Accidents Kardhordo disappeared and Rybansky died on fixed ropes; Sperka's toes frostbitten but will heal
Achievement 1st Slovakian ascent
Agency Nepal Trans Himalayan Explorer
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2453942
Year 1997
Summit Success True
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) ne face

Members

11 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Marian Cerveinka M 1964 Slovakia Climber Levice, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Anton Hanysin M 1968 Slovakia Exp Doctor Poprad, Slovakia Physician Details Other expeditions
Martin Jakubik M 1970 Slovakia Climber Presov, Slovakia Distillery manager Details Other expeditions
Juraj Kardhordo M 1966 Slovakia Climber Bratislava, Slovakia Trained as economist but spends full time on climbing Details Other expeditions
Karol Juricek M 1957 Slovakia Climber Levice, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Bohumir Kosmak M 1951 Slovakia Climber Dolny Smokovec, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Miroslav Rybansky M 1955 Slovakia Climber Strbske Pleso, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Peter Sperka M 1955 Slovakia Leader Tatranske Zruby, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Milan Suna M 1966 Slovakia Climber Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Vladimir (Vlado) Tatarka M 1945 Slovakia Climber Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Eva Truchlikova F 1955 Slovakia Climber Bratislava, Slovakia Cook Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
MANA97307 AAJ Linek, Vladimir - - 72:304 (1998) -
MANA97307 HIGH - - - 188:23-24 (Jul 1998) -
MANA97307 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199830401/Asia-Nepal-Manaslu-Ascents-and-Tragedies - - -