Simone Moro and Manaslu winter expedition

Simone Moro and Manaslu winter expedition

In late 2022, Simone Moro left Italy to attempt the first winter ascent of Manaslu (8163 m), together with Alex Txikon and a team of Nepalese mountaineers. It would be Simone’s fifth attempt in winter on this mountain.

This winter ascent of the mountain would have been Simone’s fifth winter ascent of an 8,000-meter peak

the other four being: Shisha Pangma (8027 m), Makalu (8463 m) and Gasherbrum II (8035 m), Nanga Parbat (8126 m).

The first winter ascent of Manaslu was made on January 12, 1984, by Poles Maciej Berbeka and Ryszard Gajewski, as well as the concatenation of the ascent in succession of the two peaks of the Manaslu massif: the 7992-meter East Pinnacle and the 8163-meter main summit. The latter ascent was also made by two very great Polish mountaineers, Jerzy Kukuczka and Artur Hajzer, on November 10, 1986.

Simone’s penultimate attempt to climb Manaslu in winter was last year, 2021, with Alex Txicon, with whom Simone reached the summit of Nanga Parbat together with Ali Sadpara, who lost his life during the winter expedition to K2 in 2020.

The first four attempts in 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021 failed because of the amount of snow that fell in a few days that made the ascent impossible.

This was his 72nd expedition, including 22 in the cold season. Before leaving, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, he said:

“With lucidity I must recognize that in the previous four attempts, three months for each, so a year of my life, I managed to reach only 6,200 meters, a route I usually complete in three hours. Manaslu is considered one of the easiest in the propitious season, which explains well how upsetting it is if you go in winter.”

In this fifth time, however, the weather conditions were propitious but it was not enough: Simone had to give up due to a physical illness (dysentery) that took away his strength and forced him to make the decision to forgo the climb and invite the rest of the team to continue without him.

What for Simone was surrender and thus failure to achieve the goal, for Alex Txikon, Chhepal Sherpa, Tenjen Lama Sherpa, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Mingtemba Sherpa, Pemba Tasi Sherpa, and Gyalu Sherpa was full success with a summit conquered 39 years after the first ascent.

We at Sports&Beyond congratulate everyone, for the success to the team that made it to the summit and to Simone for his lucidity in making such a difficult decision.

If you want to read Marianna Zanatta’s behind-the-scenes reflections you can read the article Simone Moro and the Manaslu – When it’s not just about resilience, success and failure.


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Simone Moro announces the conclusion of winter expedition to Manaslu.

Simone Moro announces the conclusion of winter expedition to Manaslu.

Simone Moro and Alex Txicon, together with all their team, announce the anticipated conclusion of the Manaslu expedition.

This was the fourth attempt to climb the Nepalese mountain in winter for the mountaineer from Bergamo.

This was the fourth attempt to climb the Nepalese mountain in winter for the mountaineer from Bergamo.

Bergamo, February 9, 2022 – Simone Moro and Alex Txicon, together with their entire team, announce the early conclusion of their 2021/2022 winter expedition that included the ascent of Manaslu (8163 m.), the eighth highest mountain in the world, and the Manaslu Pinnacle (7992 m).

 

“Today we are using this sunny day to pack everything because it is already starting to snow tonight and will continue tomorrow and the day after,” declares Simone Moro. “The problem is that you can’t really go beyond Camp 1. Up to Camp 1 you can easily because it is protected, but after, when the real climb begins, the danger of avalanches is high and the wind is a real problem. If the weather remained stable we could also try, but it continues to snow. Today, all together, with the Sherpas, the climbing parteners with whom we shared this experience, we looked reality in the face and decided to call it a day. Even this fourth attempt of mine was not enough, and today I can say that I have spent exactly one year of my life here on Manaslu”.
I always said “we won” and “I lost.”

Simone Moro

This was Moro’s fourth attempt and, like the precedenti, the winter expedition to Manaslu in January and February was an attempt at a modern revisiting of two great climbs of the past.

Simone Moro has to his credit 23 winter expeditions on various mountains and regions of the planet, thus relaunching the attention and the winter exploration of the 8000m peaks, after the fantastic season of the first ascents carried out by the Poles in the 1980s. Only he so far has accomplished 4 first ascents of 4 8000 meter peaks in complete winter season: Shisha Pangma 8027 mt in 2005, Makalu 8463 mt in 2009 and Gasherbrum 2 in 2011, Nanga Parbat in 2016.

During the expedition, Simone Moro was accompanied by his sponsors:

The North Face, La Sportiva, Camp-Cassin, Garmin, Gruppo Autotorino Spa, DF-Sport Specialist, Acerbis Sport, Somain Italia, Intermatica, Altitude Helicopters, La Manta Foods and Fra .Mar.