Everest Base Camp Trekking and Island Peak Climbing

The representative from Step on Himalaya will transfer you to the hotel from Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu. You can then take rest for the day or stroll around the local markets in the evening. Dinner then Overnight stay in Kathmandu.

Accommodation: Hotel

Meal: N/A

Today’s day is secluded entirely for the preparation of the trip. You will be visiting the office of Step on Himalaya for all the complete documentation, meet the climbing guide and co-staffs, then a thorough checking of gears and equipment as per the checklist just to make sure of their good condition and if any gear is lacking, it can be bought in the local markets nearby. After a short briefing, you can go back to the hotel for relaxing before the start of the trip or just stroll around the places. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Accommodation: Hotel

Meal: Breakfast

You will be heading to the Domestic Airport of TIA after early morning breakfast. You will be catching a morning flight to Lukla. It is somewhat terrifying but interesting to get the sights of snow-capped Himalayan ranges and hover above the stunning landscapes. Lukla Airport is known as the most dangerous airport in the world, surrounded by gigantic mountains. After arriving at Lukla, you will be taken to a hotel for lunch. After lunch, you will start walking towards the beautiful Phakding. A short hike to the nearby monastery can be done if you have spare time. Overnight in Phakding.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After having breakfast, you will start walking through the amazing forests of pines, firs, and junipers throughout the journey following the trail of the Dudh Koshi river. The end of today’s journey is Namche Bazar. You will come across Mt. Thamserku (6,608m.) on the right. The bright and clear sky will give a beautiful glimpse of Mt. Everest above the ridge of Lhotse-Nuptse. Continuing the walk, you will enter the Sagarmatha National Park and then reach the Namche Bazaar. It is the main gateway to Everest as well as the sole center of trade and business in the Khumbu region. There are a total 5 (of five) suspension bridges until you arrive at Namche Bazaar, being the Hilary Bridge being the highest. After ascending from the Hilary Bridge, you will finally arrive at Namche Bazaar. Overnight in Namche Bazaar.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Acclimatization is very essential when it comes to climbing or trekking. Health is wealth. If you are fit enough, you can stay active and easily achieve your ambition. Instead of staying in the room, you can walk about the beautiful villages of Namche, interact with the local Sherpa people, know about their lifestyle and cultures, and hike to the Everest View Hotel from where you can enjoy the closest encounter with Mt. Everest. On the way back, you can visit the local Museum where the native floras and faunas are put on display and the history of Mount Everest along with the gears and equipment are exhibited. If you have more stamina, you can hike up to Khumjung village, and visit the Khumjung monastery and the Edmund Hillary School. By evening, return to Namche Bazaar and Overnight stay here.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Early morning breakfast is served. After having breakfast, you will trek heading towards Tengboche village. It is quite easy to walk from Namche to Phunki then followed by the uphill walk. Tengboche is famous for the Tengboche monastery, the largest monastery in the Everest/Khumbu region. Surrounded by the Himalayas including Mt. Everest, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Ama Dablam, and Mt. Thamserku, lies the Sagarmatha National Park. It is enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. If you could make it by afternoon, you can visit the monastery that opens at 3:00 pm. Overnight in Tengboche.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

In the morning, you will visit the Tengboche monastery in the Himalayas as its backdrop. You can either meditate for some time or take pictures for memory. After about half an hour, you will walk down through the forest just before crossing a river. Then as you ascend, the lands become arider. On the way, you will pass Pangboche village before arriving at Pheriche village. There is a small helipad usually being used for emergency rescues by helicopter. If you want, a brief class can be attended by the mountain specialist at Pheriche. Overnight in Pheriche.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today’s walk is basically easier towards Dugla. After breakfast, you will walk uphill towards the moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and further ascend Chupki Lhara where you can find a display of stones along with the prayer flags. These are the memorials to the American mountaineer, Scott Fischer, and 10-time Everest Summiteer, famous Babu Chiri Sherpa. The trail continues towards the Khumbu Glacier which is situated at the base of snowy peaks like Khumbutse, Pumori, Lingtren, and Mahalangur Himal. Overnight in Lobuche.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is the day to hike to Everest Base Camp. After breakfast, you will trek towards Gorak Shep from Lobuche. There are the memorials of the Indian Army Mountaineers. The path is misleading here to most travelers so it is always advisable to follow your Guide attentively. The walk is very strenuous today as the air gets thinner as you walk up the higher altitude. After walking pass through the rocky hills, meadows and rivers, you will arrive at the Everest Base Camp where you can see a number of colorful tents of mountaineers with the backdrop of monotonous gray colors of the mountains. From EBC, you can see the extraordinary views of the Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Pumori and Mt. Khumbutse. After spending some time, you head back to Gorakshep for the overnight stay.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Kala Patthar is the famous vantage point of the Everest Region from where it is believed to view the best sights of the Himalayan ranges. We will wake up pre-dawn and depart from Gorak Shep towards Kala Patthar enjoying the chilling winds at the freezing temperature ranging from -10C to 14C. As you hike up and the morning rises, the peaks like Lingtren, Changtse, Khumbutse, and Everest start revealing. You can capture the amazing moments in pictures and spend some time at the base of the giant panorama of the Himalayas and then return to Lobuche for an overnight stay.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The trek begins after having breakfast. Today’s destination is Chhukung village passing via the Kongma La Base Camp at the elevation of 16,404 feet. En route, you will pass via Khumbu Glacier. The Kongma La pass is the toughest part of today’s trek. There are prayer flags in the Kongma La which is a milestone for the trekkers. You will then gradually descend to Chhukung passing via the Imja Khola valley. Upon arriving at Chhukung village, you will take a rest as well as check the gears and equipment to make sure there arise no problems for tomorrow’s climb to Island Peak. Overnight in Chhukung village.

Note:

As mentioned earlier, if you want an easier trail compared to the Kongma La pass, there is another route to Chhukung via Dingboche. This way the trekking is not much tiring as the Kongma La pass.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is the achievement day at the Island Peak Base Camp. You will start with a steep trail leading the way to Island Peak base camp. En route, you will encounter amazing views of the beautiful glaciers of Imja and Lhotse. The serpentine pathways will boost up the wilderness of the trekking to the Island peak base camp. After a few hours of trek, you will reach the destination. A short resting period is followed by a short pre-climbing training in the evening. The guide will give you the training on the basic climbing techniques and demonstrate and teach you the proper ways to use the climbing gears like the Ice Axe, climbing boots and Crampons, ascender, harness, ropes, etc. Even though it is not compulsory to take this training but it is advantageous to attend this session prior to climbing. It helps build self-confidence and teaches how to use stamina in a proper place and in a proper amount. After training, rest again then dinner. Overnight stay in the tents at the Island Peak Base Camp.

Accommodation: Tented Camp

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The Summit day: Waking up at around midnight and then after taking breakfast ahead of the climb. It is very important you reach the summit by the noon as the winds are stronger in the highlands during the afternoon. This might create a problem while climbing. You need to walk for several hundred meters beyond the base camp before you strike off the vertical hillside. At the beginning of the trail, it is sandy which soon changes to the grassy path. As you go higher, the slope gets narrower and then it enters a rocky, steep channel. You climb the channel gradually. It’s not difficult but the rocky steps are short. After crossing this gully, it then catches the route of a ridgeline. Here, the rope is fixed by the guides. This route is nerve-wracking, tiresome and directly traverses onto the snout of the Summit. After fixing the rope, you will then walk towards the summit ridge. The fixed rope and the man rope are being used for the safety. The usual length of the rope is around 350m., which also depends on the season and the crevasses. The ladders are used to cross the two big crevasses which are newly formed. The moment of being at the summit is awesome. Spend some time at the summit and then descend back to the Island Peak Base Camp. Celebration for the successful feat. Overnight at the tented accommodation in the Base Camp.

Accommodation: Tented Camp

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The returning route comparatively is much easier as you will be descending. The same route follows the beautiful Sherpa villages as Orsho and Shomare. It’s your choice if you want to take a different route to visit the oldest Gompa in the Upper Pangboche village. En route, you can again enjoy the scenic views of the beautiful villages and the Himalayan ranges like Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kangtaiga at the east; Kongde range at the south and the Imja Tse river flowing through the broad valley. Overnight stay in Pangboche village.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, heading back to Namche Bazaar retracing the same trail. If you desire to visit the Tengboche monastery, we can visit the nuns there. After eating lunch, you will continue the wall through the dense forests of rhododendron and juniper. The walk following the trails of Dudh Koshi gorge will pass through the dense forest, a chorten and then arrive at the army camp in Namche Bazaar. Overnight stay in Namche Bazaar.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The walk begins after having breakfast at Namche Bazaar. It is steep while climbing down towards Lukla, so better to walk cautiously. After crossing the suspension bridge over the Dudh Koshi, the walk will be much settled and leveled. Upon arrival at Lukla, stretch out the sore legs and take a deep breath for relaxation remembering the tiring but awesome expedition to Everest Base Camp and the Island Peak. Overnight stay in Lukla.

Accommodation: Tea House

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

You will catch the same thrilling flight in the morning as early as possible. After breakfast, the guide will take you to the airport and bid you farewell. upon arriving at the Kathmandu, the staff from Step On Himalaya will receive you at the airport and then you will be taken to the hotel. Rest or stroll around. The choice is yours. A farewell dinner in the evening. Overnight stay in Kathmandu.

Accommodation: Hotel

Meal: Breakfast

Finally, the Island Peak Climbing and the Everest Base Camp Trekking ends here. Final day at Kathmandu. You will be taken to the International Airport at least 3 hours before the scheduled time so that the check-in can be done on time and easily. Exchanging emails or gifts or taking photos can be done among the team members. Enjoy the flight. Have a safe journey. Looking forward to seeing you again.

Accommodation: N/A

Meal: Breakfast