Mt. Manaslu lies in the western part of Nepal and is the eighth-highest mountain in the world. It is located about 40 miles east of Mount Annapurna. The mountain’s long ridges and valley glaciers offer feasible approaches from all directions, and they culminate in a peak that towers steeply above its surrounding landscape and is a dominant feature. This mountain was previously known as Kutan 1. ‘Tang’ is a Tibetan word that means flat place. It was then renamed Manaslu, which comes from the Sanskrit word "Manas" meaning "intellect" or "soul". It was first climbed by Mr. Tashio Imanishi of Japan on May 9, 1956, via the North East Face route. There are half a dozen different routes on Manaslu today. The south face of this "mountain of intellect’ is arguably the toughest in climbing history.