The trek along the Manaslu Circuit (one of the least visited trekking regions of Nepal) starts with four days of hiking up the Dudh Khola Valley through small villages to Larke Pass. After crossing Larke Pass (5,160m), we drop into the Sama Gaun Valley, which we follow for an additional three days to Manaslu Base Camp.

Our schedule involves both moving days, where we trek to the next village, and rest and acclimatization days in between. The slow ascent is essential to allow your body time to acclimate and gives you a chance to explore each village we stay in. On some “rest days,” we’ll take a small day hike up to points of interest to give our bodies new high points.

While each village has its own charm, reaching Samagoan (the town just below Manaslu)  is one of the highlights of the trek. An important cultural landmark, Samagaon’s large monastery (or Gompa) overlooks the village. The lamas here are ordained through succession, where the eldest son becomes the next lama. The people of Samagaon are mostly of Tibetan origin and live much as they did centuries ago as subsistence yak and crop farmers. It’s like stepping back in time!

Each trekking morning, after waking up and having breakfast at the teahouse, it’s time to load your daypack and hit the trail. Porters and yaks will bring the majority of your gear to your next night’s stay, allowing you to trek light, carrying only what you need for the day. You may bring a specific day pack for the trek, or you can use your partially empty climbing pack.

Most days of trekking last between 4 and 6 hours on trail at a moderate pace, with the occasional day or two containing longer stretches.

Once your team has reached Manaslu Base Camp, you’ll settle into Base Camp life. CTSS goes to great lengths and enormous expense to make our Base Camp as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. That said, please keep in mind where we are—living on one of the biggest mountains in the world, days from the nearest road, with everything you see either carried in by foot or helicoptered in. This perspective helps us all appreciate the little things and shrug off the rest.

When rotations begin, we approach the mountain via the Northeast Route and follow a slow acclimatization schedule.

Many expeditions rush this process and suffer the consequences during the summit bid because of improper acclimatization. This is not our strategy. We take a slow, methodical approach with approximately 3x rotations up the peak.

Each foray up the mountain tags successively higher altitudes and prepares us for the summit bid while allowing plenty of time to rest back at base camp in between. It is at rest that your body makes the necessary physiological adaptations to altitude and acclimatizes, and we want you to be comfortable, well-rested, and well-fed.

Along with rest, we spend our time at Camp strategizing our weather windows, conducting skills training, and discussing the climb to ensure you’re fully prepared for the next phase of the ascent ahead. We find that much of the stress associated with a summit bid can be alleviated through early preparation.

We use four high camps on the peak. Climbing from Base Camp to Camp 1 follows gradual glaciated terrain before ascending steeply to Camp 1 at 5,500m/18,000ft.

The route to Camp 2 at 6,250m/20,500ft is more varied and technical, comprising some of the steepest climbing (40-degree snow slopes with a few vertical ice steps) on the route with fixed ropes for security.

The route to Camp 3 at 6,800m/22,300ft undulates up and over glaciated bulges on more moderate terrain with a few intermittent steep sections supported by fixed ropes.

The route to Camp 4, at 7,450m/24,450ft, presents some more strenuous climbing with a long, consistent ascent. To prepare for summit day, it’s important to rest, refuel, and re-energize as much as possible at Camp 4.

An alpine start on summit day will see you climbing for the first part of the day in the pre-dawn darkness. It is not overly technical with a long traverse across a plateau before dog-legging up the more precipitous summit ridge.

The climb passes the false summit and finishes on an exposed ridge up to the true summit at 8,163m/26,718ft. Having summited the world’s 8th-highest mountain, we return to Camp 4 for a well-earned sleep before dropping all the way back to Base Camp the following day.

Guide Tip: When you wake up on summit day, you likely won’t feel 100%, and that is normal. Your key assessment is if you feel “good enough”. Do you have the energy to climb for 16- 20 hours under your own power? Can you take care of yourself and make good decisions? What can you do now to help yourself in the future? Have you taken in enough fluids and food? Are your extremities cold? If so, take the few minutes to warm them up before starting the climb. Always address issues early and understand that feeling “good” is relative.

Our Manaslu expedition is fully supported by our incredible Sherpa team, who fix the lines, establish the route, prepare, and stock our camps. Each climber, therefore, only needs to carry what they will use for each day of climbing (and occasionally, on acclimatization days, carry a small amount of their personal gear to cache at the next camp). We have a high level of redundancy and safety. On the summit bid, you will be paired with a one-on-one personal Sherpa in addition to your guide (s).

Our guide and Sherpa staff are second to none. Our guides are the most experienced and tenured mountain leaders in the world. They traverse the Seven Summits and guide 8,000-meter peaks every season. You can trust them to make conservative and safe decisions in your best interest and work hard to see your goal come to fruition. Our team of Sherpas is simply the cream of the crop and is led by our sirdar, Tendi Sherpa. Tendi has notched a dozen Everest summits on both the south and north sides of the mountain, beyond many other summits worldwide. Tendi is an internationally certified guide and co-owns a logistics company based in Kathmandu, recognized as one of the best in the business.

Returning to Manaslu Base Camp after climbing Manaslu is a time of celebration and rapid transition. Basecamp will be buzzing. After checking in with the Expedition Leader, consider taking some time to decompress before entering the fray of questions about one of the biggest and most improbable adventures on planet Earth! Relax, smile, reach out to friends and family back home to share your unique experience and let everyone know you are safe and well.

Soon enough, you’ll want to begin your exit from Base Camp by heading back down the valley, out to Kathmandu, and finally catching your flight home.