Manaslu: bridges washed out, expeditions fly in

What happened. At dawn on 6 September 2026, after overnight rain, the Therang Khola burst its banks near Namrung (Gorkha district). Two suspension bridges between valleys, several houses and two small hydropower plants were swept away. The Manaslu circuit and the approach to Larke Pass (5,106 m) were cut. District officials asked trekkers to postpone. No deaths were reported on this stretch. This was a monsoon flood, not a glacial-lake outburst like Rasuwa two weeks earlier.

The trail. Commercial climbs of the eight-thousander did not stop: most teams fly by helicopter to Samagaon and walk to base camp from there. On 9 September residents of Chumanuwri rural municipality built a temporary wooden bridge and cleared an old path; local authorities said the route was passable again. Gorkha district did not lift its advice to wait: the logs are unlikely to survive another rise in the river, and more rain was still expected.

On the mountain. Nepal’s Department of Tourism issued a record 422 foreign permits for Manaslu this autumn (the previous high was 404 in 2022). With Nepali staff, base camp is the country’s second-largest after Everest. Fixed ropes already reach Camp 3, but after a week of precipitation the slope is loaded with fresh snow; first summit bids are slipping to around 19–20 September.