Overview
Manaslu is 8,163 metres, the eighth-highest mountain in the world, and the one most people climb first. The angles are moderate, there is no technical crux, and the six-day walk-in from the road does the acclimatisation that a flight to altitude cannot.
The approach
Up the Budhi Gandaki from Machha Khola at 900 m to Samagaon at 3,530 m — a long, humid gorge walk gaining 2,600 metres over six days. Base camp is at 4,800 m above the village, with four camps on the north-east face above it.
The part the brochures skip
"Easiest eight-thousander" describes the gradient, not the danger. The route runs beneath serac-threatened slopes, and the mountain has a genuine avalanche record — the 2012 slide that hit camp three killed eleven climbers, and there have been fatal avalanches since. Autumn's fresh monsoon snow is exactly what makes it so.
The summit question
For years many climbers stopped at a fore-summit on the plateau, short of the true corniced pinnacle, and were credited with the ascent. Records have since been revisited and ascents reclassified. Ask your operator, in writing, whether the fixed rope reaches the true summit.
What it costs
USD 16,000 to 40,000. The royalty is USD 1,800 and the paperwork is unusually heavy — a restricted-area permit and two conservation-area permits on top of the climbing royalty and liaison officer.
Day by day
The 45 days itinerary
Distances, walking times, altitudes and accommodation for every stage — stored as structured data, not written into the prose.
- Day 1
Kathmandu — briefing and load-out
Ministry briefing, permits, expedition packing
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 1,400 m
- Sleep
- Hotel, Kathmandu
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
- Day 2
Kathmandu to Machha Khola
Kathmandu (1,400 m) → Machha Khola (900 m)
- Walking
- 8 hours by jeep
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 900 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Machha Khola
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 3
The Budhi Gandaki to Samagaon
Machha Khola (900 m) → Jagat → Deng → Namrung → Samagaon (3,530 m)
- Walking
- 6 days
- Altitude
- 900 m → 3,530 m
- Elevation
- +2630 m
- Sleep
- Lodges
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A long, low, humid walk-in up a gorge, gaining 2,600 metres over six days. Unlike Everest there is no flight to altitude — the approach itself does the first half of the acclimatisation.
- Day 4
Samagaon — acclimatisation
Samagaon (3,530 m) → Birendra Tal and Pungyen Gompa → Samagaon
- Walking
- 2 days
- Altitude
- 3,530 m → 3,530 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Samagaon
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 5
Samagaon to base camp
Samagaon (3,530 m) → base camp (4,800 m)
- Walking
- 5 hours
- Altitude
- 3,530 m → 4,800 m
- Elevation
- +1270 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 6
Base camp — puja, skills and rest
Base camp (4,800 m)
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 4,800 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 7
First rotation — camp one
Base camp (4,800 m) → camp one (5,700 m) → base camp
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 4,800 m
- Elevation
- +900 m / −900 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- The crevassed lower glacier
- Day 8
Second rotation — camp two
Base camp → camp one → camp two (6,400 m) → base camp
- Walking
- 4 days
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 4,800 m
- Elevation
- +1600 m / −1600 m
- Sleep
- Tented camps
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 9
Third rotation — camp three
Base camp → camp two → camp three (6,800 m) → base camp
- Walking
- 5 days
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 4,800 m
- Elevation
- +2000 m / −2000 m
- Sleep
- Tented camps
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 10
Base camp — rest and weather window
Base camp (4,800 m)
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 4,800 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 11
Summit push to camp four
Base camp (4,800 m) → camp two → camp three → camp four (7,400 m)
- Walking
- 4 days
- Altitude
- 4,800 m → 7,400 m
- Elevation
- +2600 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp four
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 12
Summit day
Camp four (7,400 m) → Manaslu (8,163 m) → camp three
- Walking
- 12–16 hours
- Altitude
- 7,400 m → 6,800 m
- Elevation
- +763 m / −1363 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp three
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A long snow plateau leads to a narrow corniced pinnacle — the true summit. Many parties historically stopped at the fore-summit a few metres below and short of it, which is why Manaslu's summit statistics have been publicly disputed.
- The summit plateau
- The final corniced pinnacle
- Day 13
Descent to base camp and Samagaon
Camp three (6,800 m) → base camp → Samagaon (3,530 m)
- Walking
- 2 days
- Altitude
- 6,800 m → 3,530 m
- Elevation
- −3270 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Samagaon
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 14
Samagaon out, and reserve days
Samagaon (3,530 m) → Kathmandu, by helicopter or on foot
- Walking
- 25 minutes by air, or 5 days walking
- Altitude
- 3,530 m → 1,400 m
- Meals
- Breakfast
Route map
Where the trail goes
Route line, start and end points, and every overnight stop. Locations are shared entities — the same record powers the destination and itinerary pages.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Manaslu the usual first eight-thousander?
How dangerous is it?
What is the summit controversy?
Do you need a restricted-area permit as well?
When should you go?
About the author
Tom Eriksen
Gear editor & photographer
Tom tests trekking equipment the only way that produces honest answers: by carrying it for weeks at a time above 4,000 metres. He shoots most of the photography on this site and writes the gear reviews, comparison tables and packing lists.
Writes about: Trekking gear · Photography · Packing and weight
