Manaslu, Ascent. After her Pumori and Lhotse ascents (see below), Chantai Mauduit flew by helicopter to the foot of Manaslu and with one Sherpa, Ang Tshering, attacked her third Himalayan mountain of the season, here too following the standard route. On Manaslu she again went to the top alone: Ang Tshering became very tired on their final push to the summit on May 24 because he had been breaking trail for hours in deep snow, and he stopped an hour and a half below the very top to rest and wait for her. Like the Carsolio brothers, Mauduit reported finding prayer flags on the summit. She was the first Frenchwoman, and only the sixth woman of any nationality, to succeed on Manaslu. After completing her hat trick, she had summited her fifth 8000er and was keen for more.

Elizabeth Hawley