At 86, Spanish climber Carlos Soria remains unstoppable.

He is now preparing to climb Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain at 8,163 metres, to mark the golden jubilee—the 50th anniversary—of the first Spanish expedition to conquer this formidable eight-thousander.

Despite upheavals, bloodshed, and despair in Nepal in recent weeks, the country of the Himalayas has not seen a single expedition cancelled, expedition operators said.

More than 400 climbers have already registered for the autumn season as of Sunday. The rope-fixing team on Manaslu is set to complete its work by September 18, officially opening the first 8,000-metre peak for the autumn season.

Carlos, too, is optimistic—about both his climb and Nepal’s future. He has spent much of his life travelling across the country’s mountains.

“Carlos arrived in Nepal on August 30 and then travelled to Everest Base Camp as part of his acclimatisation,” said Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, Nepal’s largest expedition agency, which is managing his climb. “On Sunday, he arrived in Kathmandu and then reached Samagaun, Gorkha.”

Three days ago, from Namche Bazaar in Khumbu, Carlos shared on Facebook: “Today we completed the last leg of our Khumbu tour. The day has passed between clouds and rain. A bit of a melancholic environment, according to the atmosphere the country is living in these days. From the mountains, we have followed the events of these turbulent days with great attention. Sad but very hopeful. We sincerely hope that everything gets better soon and the future of the people of Nepal becomes more and more just and prosperous.”

He added: “Beyond the chaos and fire, the people of this country continue to look to the future with that positive outlook that captivates us so much. Tomorrow we will try to fly to Kathmandu. The airport is already open, but the weather is pretty unstable. If all goes well, we will quickly move to Manaslu base camp. The expedition continues!”

It will be his first major Himalayan expedition in nearly two years, following a serious injury that kept him away from the mountains.

“At the age of 86, when most people struggle even to stand straight, his determination is extraordinary. Carlos is a mountaineer of another level,” said Sherpa. His tentative summit push is on September 27.

Carlos, a retired upholsterer born in Ávila, northwest of Madrid, has climbed all his life. But over the past two decades, his remarkable feats in breaking age-related mountaineering records have made him unique.

Manaslu carries special significance for Spain.

On April 26, 1975, Spaniards Gerardo Blazquez Garcia and Jeronimo Lopez Martinez, along with their Nepali guide Sonam Wolang Sherpa, became the first Spanish team to reach its summit. Carlos was part of that historic expedition, climbing as high as 7,000 metres before retreating.

That triumph followed an earlier attempt.

In the autumn of 1973, a 12-member Spanish expedition led by Jaime García Orts pushed to 6,050 metres but fell short of the top. Two years later, persistence paid off and Spain secured its first Manaslu victory.

Known in Nepal as the “killer mountain” for its notorious difficulty and high fatality rate, Manaslu demands respect from even the strongest climbers.

Carlos knows this all too well.

If successful, he will set a milestone by becoming the oldest person to climb an 8,000-metre peak. The current record belongs to Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, who scaled Everest at 80 in 2013.

“But it will be very challenging,” Sherpa cautioned.

So far, Carlos has already summited 12 of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres. The two remaining are Dhaulagiri in Nepal and Shishapangma in Tibet, China. If he conquers both, he will achieve his lifelong dream of becoming the oldest mountaineer to climb all of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders.

Dhaulagiri has been his greatest tormentor. He has attempted it 15 times without success. His latest setback came in 2023 when a Sherpa accidentally fell on him, leaving him with a leg injury.

In spring 2022, he climbed up to 7,400 metres but turned back due to grim weather. A year earlier, in 2021, he had to withdraw twice—first in May because of the pandemic and poor conditions, and then in September due to knee problems.

“If Carlos succeeds on Manaslu, even though the odds are against him, he will make another attempt on Dhaulagiri,” said Sherpa. “But if he fails, it could mark the end of his mountaineering career.”

Since his first expedition to Dhaulagiri in 1998, Carlos has endured what many call a cursed romance with its slopes.

Yet his legacy is unmatched. He is the only mountaineer to have summited ten 8,000-metre peaks after the age of 60. His records are extraordinary: the oldest climber to reach the summits of K2 (at 65), Broad Peak (68), Makalu (69), Gasherbrum I (70), Manaslu (71), Kangchenjunga (75), and Annapurna (77).

Carlos began climbing at 14 in his native Spain. Over the decades, he has transformed from a determined young alpinist into one of the most enduring figures in mountaineering history.

“Now, as he sets his sights on Manaslu again, the climbing world watches to see if the octogenarian can push the boundaries of human endurance even further,” said Sherpa.