Manaslu Ascent and Tragedy. Our expedition was made up of Italians Marco Bianchi, Giorgio Passino, Christian Kunter, Mario Corradini, Belgian Sven Vermeiren, Bulgarians Yordanka and Borislav Dimitrov, Poles Barbara Stocka, Sylwia Dmowska, Mariusz Sprutta, Krzysztof Pankiewicz and me as leader. Hoping to climb Manaslu by the standard northeast route, we placed Camps I and II at 5500 and 6600 meters on September 16 and 21. On September 28, Bianchi, Kuntner and I climbed directly to the summit (8163 meters, 26,780 feet) from Camp II and descended to Camp I. The next day, the Bulgarian pair hoped to repeat the climb, but they ran out of time and descended from 7700 meters. We realized that for further ascents Camp III was needed at 7300 meters. On October 2, on the way to establish it, Sylwia Dmowska slipped and fell to her death. A night search for her was in vain. The next morning, Vermeiren was descending alone toward Camp II when at 6800 feet he slipped and fell 350 meters. He died in the afternoon because of head injuries. Due to the tragedies, the expedition was abandoned.

Krzysztof Wielicki, Klub Wysokogórski Katowice, Poland