Nepal

 

Everest Basecamp

Kala Pattar (18,192')

Everest Basecamp (17,500')

 

 

Overview

Difficulty Rating: Moderate
Experience Level: I
Duration: 21 days
Trekkers: 12
Guides: 2
Land Cost: $3400

 

 

 

 

Expedition Goals

Mount Everest Basecamp was first used in 1953, when Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to stand atop the highest mountain in the world. It is located just below the infamous Khumbu icefall, on Everest's south side, in the Kingdom of Nepal. Basecamp is inhabited by climbers from any expedition looking to climb the South Col Route.

Kala Pattar is a gentle high altitude peak near the trekking outpost of Gorak Shep; it is regularly used by Everest climbers as an acclimatization climb. The summit of Kala Pattar looks down upon Everest Basecamp, and is one of the best vantage points from which to see Mount Everest. Kala Pattar means black rock in Nepali.

 

Prerequisites

Participation in this trekking expedition requires a modicum of hiking and camping experience, preferably with some during winter, as well as experience carrying a light daypack over moderate terrain. You must have a basic working knowledge of the techniques for staying warm and dry in extremely cold conditions. For reasons of personal and team safety and success, it is imperative you arrive for this climb in excellent physical condition.

 

Itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive in Nepal; transfer from airport; hotel check-in.  Arrive in Kathmandu (4,265’), where an Expedition-Logistics guide will be waiting to greet you. After a gear inventory and hotel check-in, we call it an early evening to recover from our travels across the International Date Line.

Day 2 — Casual wake-up; acclimatization in Kathmandu; administration & logistics.  Today we take it easy, attend to administrative details with the Nepalese government, and explore this bustling capital city. Kathmandu is a popular travel destination with wonderful people, international cuisine and excellent shopping in its many markets. There are really two Kathmandus, as far as anyone can tell. There's Thamel, and there's the rest. The Thamel district is where all the trekkers, climbers, rafters, and tourists hang out. Every other shop is a gear shop, selling knock-off North Face and Patagonia. Thamel also has a number of pretty good restaurants that serve cow and beer. Thamel is where we stay while in Kathmandu.

Today we will visit the 3000-year-old Monkey Temple, and Durbar Square, with its shrines, temples and the Old Palace. This evening, get to know your guides and teammates at the welcome dinner and expedition briefing.

Day 3 — Early wake-up; fly to Lukla; trek to Monju.  This morning we leave the city life behind as we board a 20-passenger DeHavilland Twin Otter for the short but scenic flight to the village of Lukla (9,400’); the jumping-off spot for the high peaks of the Himalaya.

Morning departures from Kathmandu are regularly delayed due to fog or clouds can often delay early morning flights, so patience and a sense of humor go a long way. Likewise flights out of Lukla, where frustrated trekkers and climbers waiting to fly back to Kathmandu can be delayed for hours or even days.

Landing on the tiny, sloped Lukla runway is about as white-knuckle as it gets anywhere. Once on the ground at Lukla (Nepali for “place with many goats and sheep”), we meet our Sherpa support team and yak drivers, and then grab an early lunch while they load the gear for our five hour trek. We begin on a wide trail leading down to the Dudh Kosi River, where we join the main trail coming up from Chaurikharka. From here, the trail takes us along the river’s east bank through forests of fragrant juniper, pine and fir, to the village of Phakdingma (8,699’) where we stop for lunch. After lunch we continue on to the village of Monju (9,301'), where we overnight.

Day 4 — Early wake-up; trek to Namche Bazaar.  Today we follow the beautiful Dudh Kosi — the “Milk River” — as we trek through pine and cedar to Namche Bazaar. We make a number of river crossings on high suspension bridges to which the locals have, most appropriately, attached hundreds of prayer flags, and are treated to fantastic views of Lhotse (27,939’) and Everest (29,035’). At Jorsale (9,100’) we pay a fee to enter Sagarmatha National Park. We arrive in Namche Bazaar (11,300’), in the late afternoon, set up camp and relax amidst a breathtaking mountain panorama. Namche is located at the junction of the Dudh Kosi and a lateral valley leading to the frontier pass of Nangpa La (18,000’), and is home to a number of shops, restaurants and tourist lodges, a bank, post office, and the headquarters of Sagarmatha National Park. It is the main economic and religious center of the Sherpa people, as well as the largest and most prosperous settlement in the Khumbu. Travelers come to Namche Bazaar from the high mountain region as well as the lowlands to deal and trade in spices, textiles and jewelry. Indeed it is not uncommon to find people trading at the bazaar who have trekked over the high passes from Tibet.

Day 5 — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest day.  Today is a rest day to promote recovery and allow for proper acclimatization. It is important to remember that rest and recuperation are vital to the acclimatization process and the prevention of altitude sickness. Our well thought-out and proven system of active acclimatization – incremental increases in altitude and exertion in combination with sufficient recovery time and proper nutrition – has paid off time and again with a consistently high success rate summit days. This morning we have options: Those who wish to sleep in may do so, while those with energy to spare may opt to take a short trek to Khumjung, just above town, for an amazing sunrise and panoramic vistas of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. Today we also visit the Sherpa Museum for a look at Sherpa traditions, culture and their legacy of high altitude mountaineering.

By this point in the expedition you've learned an important cultural lesson. That is, in Nepal, 99% of the country eats the same meal twice a day: daal bhaat. Daal bhaat is basically boiled rice with a thin lentil soup poured over it, often with some spicy pickled something-or-other and maybe some boiled spinach. To eat daal bhaat, simply use the hand-shaped utensil at the end of your arm. More specifically, your right hand; your left one is used at the opposite end of the alimentation process.

Day 6 — Early wake-up; trek to Thyangboche.  This morning we’re treated to breathtaking views of Ama Dablam as we trek above the Dudh Kosi on our way to Thyangboche (12,887’). We descend through lush rhododendron forest towards the river, make a crossing at Phungithanga, and eventually climb uphill to our destination, arriving six hours later. The Thyangboche Monastery is the central holy place for the Khumbu Region; it contains ornate wall hangings, the accoutrements of the lamas, and a 25-foot statue of the Buddha. Tonight we camp next to the monastery and perhaps be treated to a ceremony and audience with the Lama. The Thyangboche Monastery was recently rebuilt after having been destroyed by a fire in 1989 which destroyed priceless religious scrolls and paintings. The views here include Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Nuptse (25,771’) Cho-Oyu (26,906’), Kantega (22,235’) and Thamserku (21,674’), and are priceless in their own right.

Day 7 — Early wake-up; trek to Dingboche.  Today we trek northeast to the village of Pangpoche (13,000’), a high year-round settlement in a valley where the Imja Khola joins the Dudh Kosi. Pangpoche is home to a monastery thought to be one of the oldest in the Khumbu region, and where Buddhism is believed to have been introduced towards the end of the 17th century. Leaving Pangboche, we cross a swinging bridge over the Imja Khola, and then climb steadily along the trail high above the river. As the valley broadens, we cross a tributary from the Khumbu Glacier and arrive at our overnight destination at the village of Dingboche (14,300’), a pleasant collection of traditional stone dwellings surrounded by wheat fields.

Day 8 — Casual wake-up; mandatory rest day.  Today is a rest day to promote recovery and allow for proper acclimatization.

Day 9 — Alpine wake-up; trek to Chukhung; optional climb of Chukhung Ri.  We continue our active acclimatization with a predawn trek to Chukhung Ri. Departing from Dingboche by headlamp, we follow the valley in a gentle ascent, with Ama Dablam and the high ridges leading to Amphu Labtsa pass on one side, and the south flanks of Nuptse on the other. Several hours later we arrive at the high mountain village of Chukhung (15,120’), just in time for a sunrise breakfast break. Refueled and refreshed, we leave the last habitation in the valley and continue across mixed rock and grassland, passing in the shadow of the largest wall in the Himalaya, the south faces of Lhotse and Nuptse. On the summit of Chukhung Ri (18,238) we are treated to views of Ama Dablam to our south and Imja Tse farther up the valley. Afterwards, we descend to Chukhung, where we overnight.

Day 10 — Casual wake-up; trek to Lobuche.  This morning we trek back down valley to Dingboche, where we turn up a fairly level valley leading to the village of Lobuche. After some time on the trail we reach the terminal moraine of the Khumbu glacier. From there, a steep ascent takes us to the hamlet of Duglha (15,157'), just beyond which there is a plateau filled with chortens (shrines) remembering the Sherpas and climbers who have perished in the high peaks.

A short distance out of Duglha, we reach our day's destination of Lobuche (16,175'), the highest year-round village in the valley, and a low altitude base camp for climbers of Everest and Lhotse. Lobuche is pretty much just a hole. That’s the only way to describe it. That’s the way most everyone describes it. A hole. With a couple of tea houses. It's very smoky from the yak crap fires, and as an added bonus the outhouses will disgust you in new and innovative ways. If you had to give Nepal an enema, Lobuche is where you'd stick the tube.

Day 11 — Casual wake-up; trek to Gorak Shep.  Today's trek to Gorak Shep is long but relatively flat, following a glacial moraine. The real butt-kicker, though, is the altitude. Gorak Shep (17,350') is a small settlement next to a dry lake bed which is perennially covered in a fine dirt, and is the final acclimatization point before Everest Base Camp. It feels like we're almost off the edge of the map.

Gorak Shep means dead raven in Nepalese, although no one really knows why; you can't swing a shep cat there without hitting a Gorak. There is no farming or livestock here; the settlement's sole reason for being is pretty much just to cater to Everest climbers and trekkers. In fact, Gorak Shep was the original basecamp for the mountain. Since there are no roads, and since everything has to be transported on somebody's back, be it man or beast, the price of what there is to buy in Gorak Shep is even more inflated than what you'd expect to pay at, say, Wrigley Field. So if you feel so moved to spend 8 bucks for a Coke and a Snickers bar, well ... go on with your bad self.

Day 12 — Early wake-up; Kala Pattar summit day.   This morning we get an early start as we head for the top of Kala Pattar. Leaving Gorak Shep at first light, we trek a short distance across the broad, flat expanse of the dry lake bed. The lake bed is relatively flat, contains a small pond and a helipad, and is used as a supply drop-off point and storage depot for Everest expeditions. After a very short time we arrive at the base of Kala Pattar and begin moving up a series of steep switchbacks that eventually level off and traverse to the east side of the mountain.  The trail becomes steep once again for a while until we reach the short summit ridge, and we arrive at the summit of Kala Pattar amid hundreds of prayer flags.

Kala Pattar is a must-do for most Everest climbers; a mellow acclimatization climb, and the best vantage point from which to view Everest in its entirety (from basecamp you can't see the summit of Everest). In addition to Everest, the views of Pumori (23,494'), Lhotse, and Nuptse from Kala Pattar's summit are worth a million bucks.

After spending as much time as possible on the summit, we descend and return to Gorak Shep and prepare for tomorrow's trek to Everest Basecamp.

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