Sheffield-based mountaineer, Adele Pennington (42), has become the first British woman to climb Manaslu, in the Nepalese Himalaya. Manaslu is 8,163 metres high and is the eighth highest mountain in the world.

Adele was leading a group of British, Nepali, New Zealand and Australian Climbers on an expedition organised by Jagged Globe, the UK-based expedition company.

This is Adele's third 8,000 metre peak in less than a year. Preceding Manaslu, Adele climbed Cho Oyu (8,201m) in October 2007 and Everest (8,848m) in May this year.

The ascent of Manaslu was made despite atrocious weather conditions caused by a lingering and turbulent monsoon that is still active in the Himalaya. A few days ago the expedition was set back by heavy snowfall, forcing the team to retreat to advance base-camp. The actual summit push went smoothly and according to plan.

The news report on the Jagged Globe website describes the conditions:

“For once the weather was cooperative and while clouds lay on the surrounding mountains there was clear skies and no wind. This led to a straightforward climb through the undulating snow slopes and up to the summit...”

There has been only two other British ascents of Manaslu prior to the Jagged Globe expedition, one was made by Alan Hinkes, in 1988. Alan went on to climb all 14 eight thousand metre peaks – a feat as yet unmatched by any other British mountaineer. The other British ascent of Manaslu was by Alan McPherson in 1997, climbing the NE face.

Source: Jagged Globe Website