Manaslu, Hourglass Route. The climbing members of our expedition were Papa Walter, Luigi Visentin and I. We left Kathmandu on March 24 and reached Base Camp above Sama at 3850 meters on April 2. Until April 17, we acclimatized, getting up to 6500 meters. The weather was unstable and on the 17th Walter left for home; the support group also departed on April 22, leaving only Visentin and me. The weather turned beautiful. We established Camps I, III and IV on April 22, 23 and 24 at 5000, 6500 and 7200 meters. (We did not reoccupy Camp II at 5600 meters on Naike Col.) From Camp IV we climbed a more direct route on the northeast face to the left of the normal route, which we call the “Hourglass” route. Because Visentin had altitude problems and was climbing slowly, we bivouacked at 7650 meters the next day. On April 26, I got to the summit at 11:10 A.M., but Visentin had to quit 130 meters below the top. We bivouacked again at 7200 meters on the descent and made a long descent to Base Camp the day after.

Fausto De Stefani, Club Alpino Italiano