16 September 2012, Manaslu Base Camp (4800m) – Greg Costa, Rémy Lécluse and Glen Plake called in from base camp to tell us the storm is over and they’re heading back up the mountain. Here’s the plan:

• Sunday, 16th – Base Camp > Camp 1 (5750m)
• Monday, 17th – Camp 1 > Camp 2 (6300m)
• Tuesday, 18th – Camp 2 > Camp 3 (6800m)
• Wednesday, 19th – Camp 3 (6800m)
• Thursday, 20th – Camp 3 > Camp 4 (7400m)
• Friday, 21st – Camp 4 > Summit (8156m) > Base Camp

During the call, Rémy reported that everyone is feeling very good and while it had been raining a lot in Base Camp they believe it was a low storm and only expect around 20cm of fresh snow at 6200 meters.

He also told us that the other skier on the mountain, Greg Hill, had made it to 7000 meters before the bad weather hit and his team found conditions very slabby. That as they were skinning up, they were hearing the telltale ‘whump’ of hollow snow that makes backcountry skiers’ skin crawl.

So this creates a huge question mark on what kind of snow conditions the teams will find and how safe things will be as they continue up the mountain. Hopefully, if the weather stays clear, the snowpack might have time to stabilize by the time they reach the higher camps.

Rémy also told me just before they left Base Camp that they had tried to send a few of the images they took from their last trip up the mountain but sad to say, their email never made it.

The crew told me they are going to try to keep me updated with calls from the mountain starting from Camp 2 so stay posted!