August 27, 2012
Manaslu team in Kathmandu (Mike Hamill)
Ang Jangbu and Mike Hamill report from Kathmandu report that the team has all successfully arrived, and despite some airline glitches along the way, everyone made it to Nepal with all their gear. Congrats! That is always a good way to start an expedition! Joining IMG guides Mike Hamill and assistant Peter Anderson, we have 5 American climbers, 1 Canadian, 1 German, and 2 from Norway.
Mike and Peter have been working on packing gear and doing equipment checks the last couple days, and they have also received a good taste of the Nepal bureaucracy, as they joined Jangbu and his staff in procuring the five different permits required: climbing permit from the Ministry of Tourism, comms gear permits from the Ministry of Communications, Manaslu Conservation Area Permit, Trekking permit, and trekking ID cards for sherpas and members. Now, the team is ready to go! Our head cook, Kaji Sherpa, with porter loads of member duffels and fresh food left Kathmandu this morning (27th), to get a head start on the team.
IMG team heading to Ghorkha (Ang Jangbu)
For tomorrow morning (the 28th), the team is leaving at 6am to drive to Gorkha and then on to Arughat. There have been several landslides along the way, so they will have to switch buses in at least two places (crossing the landslides on foot, to a new bus on other side). We’ll look forward to following their progress!
Eric Simonson