Is Climbing Manaslu Worth It? My Journey to the Eighth Highest Peak
Have you ever looked at a mountain and wondered, Could I really climb that? That’s how my Manaslu Expedition began with a question. I wasn’t sure if I had what it took, but I knew I had to try. Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, called to me like a whisper on the wind. I couldn’t ignore it. I had read about people climbing Everest and K2, but Manaslu was different. Quieter. Wilder. Less crowded. It seemed like the kind of mountain that would test you without the noise of the world around you. And so, I packed my gear, trained my body, and set off to see if I could reach the top. The Mountain That Watches Manaslu is not just a mountain. Its name means “Mountain of the Spirit” in Sanskrit, and standing before it, I understood why. The snow-covered slopes rise up like a white wall into the sky. At 8,163 meters (26,781 feet), it’s taller than I could ever imagine before I saw it with my own eyes. But climbing it? That was something else entirely. We started our Ma...