Day 9: To The Summit (6,092m/6 hrs) and return to the Base Camp
(6-7 hrs) Summit day, by definition invariably a long and exhausting, dawn-sometimes-to-dusk, day to remember starts as early as light permits.  First in shadow, for the sun is not yet above the eastern ranges, we proceed with rhythm and moderate pace.  After maybe 4.5 hours, via a near vertical 100m snow slope and with the employment of practiced techniques, the ascending ridge breaks out onto a snowfield.  Thus on up, up quite steeply, up wearily and up cautiously probing for crevasses.  Maybe not yesterday, but today you will surely know that you have acquired the mantle of the mountaineer. 

The summit is an astonishing 360 degree panorama, as good as the very best in the central Himalaya.  The impact of scale and of grandeur is overwhelming, far above any cloud, it is as if you are on a par with Manaslu (8,163m) due East, Annapurna II and Lamjung due South, Machhupuchare to the south-west, Annapurna I due West, and the trans-Himalayan plateau of Tibet stretching, in darkening misty tones, away to the North. 

With new energy sourced from adrenalin and achievement, we will descend by the same route past the site of last night’s High Camp to the relative comforts and oxygen of Base Camp.   (B,L,D)

Day 10: To Pisang Village or Ghyaru
(O/nt Altitude 3,670m/ 3 hrs approx)  After the momentous day, you will be coming down in more ways than one.  The intensity has passed, the day is relatively short and leisurely.  Setting off from Base Camp, we head to the Marsyangdi, either back to Pisang or to Ghyaru, the village of fluttering prayer flags higher up the valley; and in either case to restaurants, showers and beds. (B,L)

NB.  planning here is based on people’s decision (which would have been made individually before the outset), whether to continue independently to cross the Thorung-La so as to complete the Annapurna Circuit trekking route or to head back the way we came down the Marsyangdi Valley and onto transport to either Pokhara or Kathmandu.  So here it is important to make clear that the expedition schedule itself is to return now to Kathmandu or, if you choose, to Pokhara.

THE RETURN – Teahouse accommodation and meals. Days 11-13: To Kathmandu or Pokhara; trekking and by road via Chame, Bajarchap, Bahundanda and Besi Sahar.  Expedition ends on arrival with dinner in Kathmandu (or Pokhara). (B then D in Kathmandu)

MEAL CODES:  (B=breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)