Manaslu Attempt. The 1978 Colorado Himalayan Expedition to Manaslu (26,760 feet) consisted of Dr. Charles Clark (deputy leader), Dr. Dee Crouch, Bruce Gordon, John Gordon, David Jones, Paul Parker, Sandy Read, Gerry Roach and me as leader. Verne and Marion Read served ably at the expedition’s base-camp managers. In addition, the expedition employed five Sherpas: Gyalgen, Ang Rita, Nuwu, Dorjee and Pasang. The expedition departed from Trisuli on February 25 and after a fourteen-day trek arrived at Base Camp (12,600 feet) on March 10. Less than two hours after arriving, a snowstorm began which lasted three-and-one-half days and deposited four feet of snow—a forewarning of things to come. Ascending the east face of Manaslu, on March 14 we established Camp I at 16,200 feet and on March 23 Bruce Gordon, Roach and Parker made their way through the heavily crevassed Manaslu Glacier and reached Naike Col (Camp II) at 18,400 feet. Through the first week of April the weather can only be described as miserable. On the average there were three days of storm to every one good day. During our first month on the mountain we recorded nearly twenty feet of snowfall (six feet in one 48-hour period at Camp I) and snowshoes were invaluable in moving our supplies up to Camp II. On April 7 the weather cleared and Jones, John Gordon and Parker began work on establishing a route through the icefall. That task was completed and Camp III located at 21,300 feet on April 10. After four days of strenuous load-carrying through the icefall by everyone, on April 14 Camp III was occupied. The following day John Gordon, Gyalgen and I established Camp IV at 24,000 feet. Three days of stormy weather ensued, but on April 19, in extremely marginal conditions, we were able to carry enough supplies up to the site of Camp IV to stock that camp for the planned summit assault. The evening of April 19, however, a new storm began to rage which continued for four days and deposited as many feet of new snow at Camp III. On April 22 all climbers on the upper part of the mountain were forced to retreat to Camp II to await improved snow conditions. The following day a violent storm began which literally buried Camp II with over seven feet of snowfall. As a result of the extreme avalanche conditions caused by the heavy snows and low food supplies, the expedition was forced to admit defeat and withdraw from the mountain on April 29. We arrived back in Kathmandu on May 9.

Glenn Porzak