Heavy monsoon-season landslides in Nepal's Manang region have done more than close trekking trails — they've pushed one of the world's most accomplished climbing couples onto an entirely different mountain. Nives Meroi and Romano Benet, the Italian veterans who have summited all fourteen 8,000m peaks without supplemental oxygen, arrived in Nepal aiming to open a new route on the south face of 7,134m Tilicho Peak, north of Annapurna. They never got close. The town of Tatopani, normally the road-accessed start of the walk to base camp, was cut off by what Meroi described as 46 landslides along the route, with conditions beyond the town unknown.
The couple always treks in on foot — the approach is part of the expedition for them, and they refused to switch to helicopters. So they chose a plan B that keeps that principle intact: Jugal II, a 6,518m peak in the Jugal Himal, northeast of Kathmandu near the Tibetan border, reachable by bus plus a few days of walking. The peak is unclimbed, and the area itself is remarkably fresh on the mountaineering map: until spring 2023, Jugal I and Jugal II, along with five neighbouring peaks, were closed to climbing altogether.
There's been one serious attempt. In spring 2024, a Korean-Nepalese expedition led by veteran Um Hong-gil, with Sherpa climbers Dawa Yangzum and Lakpa Dendi, topped out on Jugal I (6,591m) but fell short on Jugal II. According to The Himalayan Database, the summit is still untouched — which is exactly the kind of blank space Meroi and Benet, joined here by Slovenian climber Tine Cuder, specialise in. Meroi has a Piolet d'Or for a new route on Kabru II in the Kangchenjunga region.
For trekkers rather than climbers, the more urgent news is the state of the Annapurna region. The Manaslu Circuit remains open, but the Annapurna Circuit is badly hit, an avalanche has cut the Thorong La (the trail's highest point), and even the Annapurna South Side Base Camp trek has reportedly suffered major landslide damage, with power outages and no mobile signal. Nepal's National Trust for Nature Conservation says Annapurna trekking permits are on sale again, but trekkers on the ground say trails above Manang remain shut as of October 1. With contradictory reports flying around social media, the sensible move is to confirm conditions with a local outfitter or the tourism board before committing. That even a hardcore expedition team rerouted rather than push into the region says a lot about conditions there right now.
The quieter takeaway for adventurous travellers: keep an eye on the Jugal Himal. It sits practically on Kathmandu's doorstep, it only opened to climbing in 2023, and it remains so little-visited that reliable information is thin. If Meroi and Benet succeed on Jugal II, expect this quiet corner to attract a lot more attention.
ExplorersWeb
