Manaslu Attempt. Only the Poles Krzysztof Pankiewicz and Ludwik Wilczynski did any serious climbing. The expedition leader was the Pole Wojciech Szymanski and there were also two Czechoslovaks and a German doctor. The Polish climbers first made acclimatization climbs on the normal northeast face route and on the third climb got to 7100 meters. They then turned their attention to a new route on the southeast face in what they hoped would be an extremely light, brief, alpine-style climb. The enormous difficulty of the line they tried and the snow conditions forced them on May 20 to abandon the attempt after three days at 6800 meters. They then thought of an ascent of the northeast face, but a big snowstorm blew up on May 21 and lasted for three days, by which time their supplies were nearly used up and the climb was over. They are convinced that their new route can be climbed but it would be best done in the winter when avalanche danger is minimal.

Michael J. Cheney, Himalayan Club, and Elizabeth Hawley