Manaslu (; , also known as Kutang) is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. The name Manaslu means "mountain of the spirit" and is derived from the Sanskrit word manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul". Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956, by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a Japanese expedition. It is said that, given the many unsuccessful attempts by the British to climb Everest before Nepali Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary, "just as the British consider Everest their mountain, Manaslu has always been a Japanese mountain".
Manaslu is the highest peak in the Gorkha District and is about east of Annapurna. The mountain's long ridges and valley glaciers offer feasible approaches from all directions and culminate in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape and is a dominant feature when viewed from afar.
The Manaslu region offers a variety of trekking options. The popular Manaslu trekking route of skirts the Manaslu massif over the pass down to Annapurna. The Nepalese Government only permitted trekking on this circuit in 1991. The trekking trail follows an ancient salt-trading route along the Budhi Gandaki River. En route, 10 peaks over are visible, including a few over . The highest point reached along the trek route is Larkya La at an elevation of . As of May 2008, the mountain has been climbed 297 times with 53 fatalities.
The Manaslu Conservation Area Project (MCAP) was established in 1997 with the primary objective of achieving conservation and sustainable management of the delimited area, which also includes Manaslu.
General
Set in the northern Himalayan range in the Gorkha District of Nepal, Manaslu is a serrated "wall of snow and ice hanging in the sky". The three sides of the mountain fall in steps to terraces down below, which are sparsely inhabited with agricultural operations practiced on the land. Apart from climbing Manaslu, trekking is popular in this mountain region, as part of the Manaslu Circuit, a notable path for trekkers in Nepal.
The Manaslu Conservation Area, declared as such in December 1998 under the National Parks and Wild Life Conservation Act, subsumes Manaslu within it. The area covered under the conservation zone is and is managed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) of Nepal. The status of "conservation area" applied to the Manaslu area or region was with the basic objective of "To conserve and sustainable management of the natural resources and rich cultural heritage and to promote ecotourism to improve the livelihood of the local people in the MCA region."
Manaslu Himal, as it is popularly known among trekkers, provides views of the snow-covered mountains of the Himalayas and allows close interaction with the different ethnic groups who live in hill villages scattered along the trek route.
The trekking route is through mountainous terrain prone to the consequences of monsoon rainfall, landslides, and landfalls. Hypothermia and altitude sickness, as well as encounters with passing yaks, are common. Trekking to Manaslu is thus a test of endurance.
Geography
The region, which is also termed the Manaslu Conservation Area, comprises sub-tropical Himalayan foothills to arid Trans-Himalayan high pastures bordering Tibet. Starting from Arughat and extending into the Larkhe La pass, the area covers six climatic zones: the tropical and sub-tropical zone, elevation varies from ; the temperate zone (within elevation range of ; the sub-alpine zone elevation range of ; the alpine zone, a range of ) meadows; and the arctic zone (lying above ). The zones coalesce with the variation of the altitude from about in the tropical zone to the summit of Manaslu in the arctic zone.