About the Manaslu Region Archive
Manaslu (8,163 m) in Gorkha district is the world’s eighth-highest mountain and, in the autumn, the busiest 8,000-metre peak in Nepal. Many climbers use it as preparation for Everest. Around it runs the Manaslu Circuit, a restricted-area trek through Samagaun and Samdo and over the Larkya La, within the Manaslu Conservation Area.
Its standard route passes under large seracs and avalanche-prone slopes between Camps 2 and 4, and the mountain’s two worst days, in 1972 and 2012, both came from avalanches hitting the middle camps. This Log records those events alongside the updates that shape each season: permits, access rules, the long-running question of where the true summit is, and the decisions to close a season early.
Places this archive tracks
- Soti Khola, Machha Khola and Jagat — road-head and lower trail
- Samagaun and Samdo — main villages, helicopter staging
- Larkya La (about 5,100 m) — pass crossing, weather
- Manaslu Base Camp and Camps 1–4 — avalanches, climbing accidents
- The fore-summit and true summit ridge
- Tsum Valley — restricted-area trekking
How each entry is built
Every event gets its own dated entry on this Log’s timeline. The entry date is the date the event happened, not the date it was written up, so the timeline reads as history even when an old event is added years later. Each entry opens with the same fact table: event date, location, type, impact (deaths, injuries, missing, displaced where relevant), verification status and current status. The write-up follows, then the sources it was built from.
Event types used here: climbing accident, avalanche or storm, trekking accident, aviation or helicopter incident, missing persons, earthquake or flood, rescue and evacuation, infrastructure and connectivity, regulation and permits, environment and waste, and major historical events.
Verification levels
- Unverified: early reports only; details likely to change.
- Partially verified: at least one credible source confirms the event, but key details (names, numbers) are incomplete or disputed.
- Verified: confirmed by an official body or by several independent, reliable outlets.
When figures differ between sources, which is common for death tolls in the first days after a disaster, the entry says who reported which number instead of quietly picking one. When new information emerges, the original entry gets a Correction or Source note attached to it rather than being rewritten, so the record of what was known and when stays intact.
Sourcing and originality
Entries are written from notes, in Merolog’s own words, after reading at least two independent sources. Direct quotes are short, in quotation marks and credited. Photographs come only from freely licensed collections such as Wikimedia Commons, with the photographer and licence named under each image; news agency photos are never copied. Preferred sources are official bodies (Nepal’s Department of Tourism, Nepal Police, the government’s aircraft accident investigation commissions, ICIMOD, conservation-area offices and local municipalities), established Nepali outlets (The Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times) and specialist mountaineering reporting (Explorersweb, Alan Arnette, the American Alpine Club).
Follow this Log to be notified when a new Manaslu region entry is added.
Last reviewed 29 September 2026. Written in Merolog’s own words from the sources listed; where sources disagree, each figure is attributed rather than merged. Spotted an error or a newer figure? Leave a comment on this entry.