Mike Farris led a group for The Mountain Company on the Manaslu Circuit in October '08. This was the third time that we have organised this trek, previous groups successfully completed the Manaslu Circuit trek in October '07 and April '08.
One advantage of running the same a trek a number of times is that we build up cumulative knowledge and experience that can be used for planning future treks. For all western led treks we have written day by day Trek Leader Notes so that a leader who has not previously done the trek can tap into our cumulative experience. After a trek each western leader will submit their Trip Report to The Mountain Company, after reading this we will update the Trek Leader's Notes for any lessons learnt or changes in the route etc.
Roland met up with the Manaslu group on their return to Kathmandu and by all accounts the trek was very enjoyable with everyone successfully crossing the Larkya La pass. One point forward for future groups on the Manaslu Circuit is that there are some noisy dogs at night in Lho, Samagaon and Samdo so bring along ear plugs! Although this was not an issue for the Manaslu Circuit group in April....
You might be interested to hear that Mike Farris has recently finished writing his book about altitude & acclimatisation called The Altitude Experience. I recently read this book and can highly recommend it if you are thinking of trekking or climbing at altitude. Mike combines his knowledge of climbing to extreme altitude on expeditions to K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum 2 with being a Professor or Biology to produce a highly informative and enjoyable book.
The Mountain Company is planning to run the Manaslu Circuit trek in October '09, please get in touch if you are interested in joining the group.