Nicholas Rice: Manaslu Dispatch

2009 Solo Manaslu Expedition

Dispatch Twenty-one: April 13th, 2009

Day Twenty-one: Rest Day in Base Camp; Japanese Expedition Arrives

Today, after visiting with my Spanish friends and checking on the Koreans’ summit bid, I prepared my backpack for my climb to Camp II. My pack again turned out to weigh over 20kg’s as I was carrying all the equipment to establish Camp II (tent, stove, fuel, etc.) in addition to the gear I would need to spend the night at both camp I and camp II (food, sleeping bag, mattress pad, etc.) and my climbing gear. Late in the day, I headed back over to the Spanish expedition’s camp to see how their preparations were coming. Lina intends to make a carry to Camp I tomorrow, weather permitting. The expedition will leave base camp around 5am, way too early for my taste. Around dinner time, base camp was enveloped in clouds and conditions were looking far from ideal for tomorrow.

Note: Photos from April 10^th... Figured that everyone’s seen enough of Base Camp