Manaslu (
Nepali: मनास्लु, also known as
Kutang) is the eighth highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in the
Mansiri Himal, part of the
Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. Its name, which means "mountain of the spirit", comes from the
Sanskrit word
manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul". Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a
Japanese expedition. It is said that "just as the British consider
Everest their mountain, Manaslu has always been a Japanese mountain".