Babar Ali, first Bangladeshi to scale Manaslu without supplemental oxygen
Mountaineer Babar Ali has become the first Bangladeshi to climb the 8,163-metre-high Manaslu peak without supplemental oxygen. At 4:30 am local time in Nepal today, 26 September, This Everest summiteer reached the summit of the world’s eighth-highest mountain around 4:30 am local time in Nepal today, 26 September.
Another Bangladeshi mountaineer, Tanvir Ahmed, also reached the summit of Manaslu at 3:30 am local time. Both Babar and Tanvir are members of the mountaineering club Vertical Dreamers. Their joint expedition has been named ‘Manaslu Ascent: Vertical Duo’.
The news of Babar and Tanvir’s successful ascent was confirmed to Prothom Alo by expedition manager Farhan Zaman and Buddharaj Bhandari, owner of Snowy Horizon Trek and Expedition, organiser of the expedition in Nepal.
Earlier on 25 September, mountaineer Toufiq Ahmed became the second Bangladeshi to climb Manaslu. The first Bangladeshi to achieve this feat was Everest summiteer MM Muhit who scaled the peak on 12 October 2011.
Tanvir Ahmed and Babar Ali left Bangladesh for Nepal on 5 September. After completing preparations, they travelled by car from Kathmandu to Tilche village on 7 September.
From there, they trekked for five days to reach the base camp. They then acclimatised by moving between higher camps. For the final summit push, Tanvir left base camp on 22 September and Babar on 23 September.
Vertical Dreamers’ president and expedition manager, Farhan Zaman, said, “There has long been a taboo that success above 8,000 metres is impossible without a mountaineering course. Through Tanvir, we have broken that notion. Until now, all Bangladeshi climbers of 8,000-metre peaks had received formal mountaineering training.”
He added, “We had faith in the hard work of Tanvir Ahmed and Babar Ali, and today our dream has come true. This achievement will further inspire mountaineering in Bangladesh.”
Among the two climbers, Babar Ali had previously scaled Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, and Mount Lhotse, the fourth-highest in the same expedition in 2024.
In April this year, he climbed Annapurna I, the tenth-highest mountain. This marks his fourth successful ascent of an 8,000-metre peak as the general secretary of Vertical Dreamers.
Meanwhile, Tanvir Ahmed, who serves as the club’s mountaineering and trekking secretary, climbed Ama Dablam (6,812 metres) in November 2024. Manaslu is his first 8,000-metre expedition.
Notably, there are 14 mountains in the world that rise above 8,000 metres. At such extreme altitudes, oxygen levels are just one-third of those at sea level. To sustain the human body, climbers generally rely on supplemental oxygen.
In 1978, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and Austrian Peter Habeler became the first to successfully climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. Many others have followed in their footsteps since, though some have lost their lives in the attempt.