David Manby is a well known

canoeist Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

kayaker A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

from the UK and was a national champion in

slalom canoeing Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a Spraydeck, decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on Whitewater, river rapids in the fastest time poss ...

C-1. He is considered a pioneer in the sport of canoeing and is probably best known for being involved on the British expedition of the first descent of the

Dudh Kosi Dudh Koshi (दुधकोशी नदी, ''Milk-Koshi River'') is a river in eastern Nepal. It is the highest river in terms of elevation. Koshi river system The Kosi River, or Sapt Koshi, drains eastern up. It is known as Sapta Koshi because ...

river.

Early life

Dave was born to Michael and Eve (née Levick) Manby in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

where his father was the headmaster of the junior school at St John's College. When he was 8 he moved with his family to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where his father became the headmaster of

Prestfelde School Prestfelde School is an independent co-educational day and boarding preparatory school, located on London Road in Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, for children between the ages of 3 and 13. , there are 333 pupils on roll. Since 1949, the scho ...

which he attended. Later he attended

Ellesmere College Ellesmere College is a fully Independent school (United Kingdom), independent co-educational day and boarding school set in rural northern Shropshire, located near the market town of Ellesmere, Shropshire, Ellesmere. Belonging to the Woodard Corpor ...

and it was here that he first learnt to canoe. He also attended the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

Dudh Kosi

In 1976, at the age of 21, Dave was asked to join five other kayakers in a team of ten on the famous first descent of the

, the river running off

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

the trip leader was Mike Jones. The team left in July and began the 7,500 mile drive in a

Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

mini-bus to

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. Once there a further 180 mile hike, with all the equipment including 10 kayaks, had to be undertaken to reach

Everest Base Camp There are two base camps on Mount Everest, on opposite sides of the mountains: South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of (), while North Base Camp is in Tibet, China at (). The base camps are rudimentary campsites at the base of Mount Eve ...

. This was the starting point of the pioneering paddle which involved some of the hardest white water canoed to date. Dave himself had one close call when his boat capsized and in the freezing water was unable to Eskimo roll. Luckily the team managed to get him out of the river before it was too late. The whole expedition was filmed by

Leo Dickinson Leo Dickinson is a British cameraman, director and adventurer. He has made 68 films, winning every major mountain and adventure film award. Dickinson specialises in mountain, ballooning, skydiving and underwater films. During his mountaineering ...

and was shown on British prime time television in

boxing day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1976. The film itself won over 50 international awards, and has recently been remastered in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and made into a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

. It was shown again in the UK on BBC 4 on 8 January 2014.

The river is extreme white water. Normally it can't be used for water sports. The first kayak trip was made 1976 by a British expedition under the leadership of Mike Jones.

After Everest

Dave was involved in more first descent expeditions including the attempted 1978 K2 trip on the

Braldu River The Braldu River (; ur, ) flows in the Skardu District of Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan. The Braldu River joins the Basha Basna River, and together they form the Shigar River, which is a tributary of the Indus River. Geography The Braldu Rive ...

(

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) in which Mike Jones died while trying to save a companion. Other expeditions include early descent of the Coruh River in Eastern Turkey and the Sezar, Dez and Bakhtiaria Rivers in the Zagros Mountains in Iran. He has also written a book "Many Rivers to Run"

External links

Dave's home page
* Dudh Kosi film ()
Dudh Kosi film recap
* Many Rivers to Run ()
Canoe & Kayak Magazine

Dudh Kosi Expedition DVD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manby, Dave 1954 births Living people Kayakers British male canoeists Sportspeople from Johannesburg Sportspeople from Shrewsbury Alumni of the University of Nottingham South African emigrants to the United Kingdom