Ama Dablam Expedition 2023

In Kathmandu for final preparation of Climb. Meet other team members, complete official and government formalities, final gear check and load. Upon your interest, an optional Kathmandu sightseeing can be arranged on these days.
We will have a trip orientation and your trip leader will give you a brief about your climb before we head to our journey.

After an early morning b/fast, we take the mountain flight from Kathmandu to Lukla on STOL aircraft. Flight time is about 35 minutes to the airstrip built by Sir Edmund Hillary and the Sherpas in the mid-1960s. We begin the trek by descending towards the Dudh Kosi River, where we join the main trail to Namche Bazaar, just above Chaurikharka at 2713m. The walking is easy and after passing through the small village of Ghat at 2550m, it’s a short walk to Phakding where we’ll stay overnight.

We will continue our journey along Dudhkoshi River which will take us through pine forest. After crossing suspension bridges at several points and passing through small settlements of Zapute, Toktok, Benkar and Chumoa, we will reach Monjo. This is known as the gateway to the Sagarmatha National Park. After completing all the necessary national park formalities, we will enter Sagarmatha National Park. Lowering down from the park, we will arrive at river. Crossing another suspension bridge, we will proceed towards high Hillary Bridge located at the foot of the hill. Crossing this bridge, we will climb uphill to the Namche Bazaar. We can get view of Thamserku Mountain. If weather is clear, we can also have first view of Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Kusum Khangru mountains.

Namche Bazaar is regarded as gateway to the high Himalayas. It is also the main trading center and a capital of Sherpa land. Rest is recommended in Namche for acclimatization purpose. Short hike will be arranged to the ancient Sherpa village of Thame to observe the rich Sherpa culture. We can also visit nearby Khumjung, Khunde or Khongde villages. Shopping in marketplace of Namche is another fine idea. National Park Head office, Museum and monasteries are other places of interest. The area is clustered with cafes, shops, bakeries and restaurants. The place supports facilities of post office, hospital, government health post. Internet access is also available at Namche so that you can contact your near ones.

Leaving Namche Bazaar, we will walk along the glacial water of the Dudh Koshi River. We will be greeted with views of Mt. Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Thamserku and Ama Dablam Mountains. Our journey continues through the colourful forest of blooming rhododendron to Sanasa. The region is rich in wildlife like musk deer and different colourful local birds. In Sanasa lies the junction point. One of the paths leads us to the Gokyo valley while the other one leads us to Everest Base Camp. We will take a sharp climb to Tengboche monastery which is the largest Gompa in the Khumbu region. The journey rewards us with close-up views of many surrounding mountains. We will visit the monastery and walk through a forest of birch and rhododendron to Deboche.

After breakfast, we will descend to Imja River. The trail takes us uphill to Pangboche (3860m) through the lush forest. We will visit the Pangboche Monastery. The village is also decorated with Chorten and Mani walls. The trail allows us access to Imja Valley. We will take a steep climb to Pheriche and continue further to Lobuche River. The final steepest climb of the day will take us to Dingboche. Agriculture is the chief occupation of locals in Dingboche. We can see fields enclosed by stonewalls in Dingboche. Buckwheat, potatoes and barley are the major crops.

Today we will hike up to Nagarstang peak for acclimatization. Nagarstang peak sits around 5000m so doing this will greatly benefit our acclimatization process.
We will spend the rest of the day resting and exploring the Dingboche valley.

From Dingboche, we will retrace our route to Pheriche and begin a moderate walk to Dugla. Walking through the steep moraine of Khumbu glacier, we will head towards Chupki Lhara which is festooned with prayer flags. It is also known as the memorial site for deceased climbers. The trail stretches through the Khumbu glacier moraine to Lobuche. On the way, we can rejoice in the close-up views of Pumori, Khumbutse and other peaks and mountains.

A real early start is required to reach the Everest Base Camp. It takes several hours as the trail weaves its way through ice pinnacles and past the crevasses of the Khumbu Glacier. After a brief lunch and rest, we take the trail to Everest Base Camp through the once-vast Gorak Shep Lake. Only upon reaching the Everest Base Camp do we really appreciate the Everest climbers who brave the risky route through the Khumbu icefall. Mountaineer's tents stand out in bright colours against the monotony of grey surroundings (especially in the spring). Nuptse, Khumbuste and Pumori are the mountains we can view from the base camp. We return to Gorakshep for a restful night.

Be prepared to tackle thin air at this high altitude. We will leave our camp in Gorakshep pretty early in the morning as our target will be to get a sunrise view over Everest from Kalapattar. The route offers us views of Lingtren, Khumbutse, and Changtse peaks. Once we arrive at Kalapattar, we will get unobstructed views of Mount Everest. After spending a memorable time at Kalapattar and capturing the memories in photographs, we will return to Lobuche.

Leaving Lobuche village, we will move along the rocky moraine path towards Lobuche High Camp.

From Lobuche village, it takes 3 hrs to get to the Lobuche High Camp which is situated at 5,250m/17,224ft. After a gradual climb for an hour, we ascend to a steep rocky section for nearly an hour. We will climb through the rocky terrain to Lobuche High Camp.
Once we reach High Camp, we will take lunch and rest for a while before doing the climbing training

Dinner will be served early tonight as we prepare to leave at midnight the next day for our summit push.

We will wake up quite early this day as we aim to reach the summit before 10 am. We head out to the summit during predawn at around 2 am. The exact time of departure from the high camp will be suggested as per your walking pace. From the high camp to the summit it's about 7-8 hrs of a climb and descent to the high camp will take around 4 hrs.

The first few hours of a climb don't involve the use of crampons and the terrain mostly consists of snow and rock. Fixed ropes are usually placed along all the sections of the climb starting from the high camp. After almost 3 hrs, we get to the crampon point of Lobuche Peak, which is just at the base of a 60-degree vertical climb on a fixed rope. From here, the climb begins somewhat technical with climbing on mixed conditions of rock, ice and snow.

After another 3 hrs of mixed climbing on a fixed rope on an average 45-degree incline we get to the summit of Lobuche East (6119m/20,075ft).

The summit allows enticing views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Cholatse, Ama Dablam, Pumori and other mountains in the Everest region. After spending some quality time at the summit, we will lower down to Lobuche High Camp for lunch and then towards Thugla

We will retrace the route through the wide valley of the Khumbu River and walk past pretty tiny Sherpa settlements of Orsho and Shomare to Pangboche. Pangboche is popular for its oldest monastery in the Khumbu region. We can rejoice in the views of Everest, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kangtaiga and Kongde ridges and Imja Tse River from Pangboche village.

Leaving Pangboche, we will head towards Amadablam Base Camp by following the scenic trail that stretches down to the river and take sharp climb to Kharka. The trail offers close-up views of Amadablam, Lhotse, Lobuche, Pumori, Cholatse, Kusum Kangaru, Thamserku, Amphu Gyabjen and others. As we move ahead, view of Amadablam Mountain becomes more vivid. Once we reach the base camp of Amadablam, we can get views of many stunning peaks and hanging glaciers. We will meet our other crew at Base Camp.

Get rested and organized.

The puja Ceremony will be organized according to the Sherpa ritual to ask for blessings for the successful ascend of Amadablam.

We will also do an extensive climbing clinic around base camp before leaving for the summit push.

We will target to make our final ascent to the summit on these days after completing our rotation. Since we have to adjust according to the situations like weather conditions and other factors, it is not possible to have a fixed itinerary for these days.

Base Camp to Camp 1 (5,705m/18,718ft):
From the Base Camp, we will move through grassy ridges and head east to a broad saddle from where we will get a view of Mingbo La pass. Heading north through boulders to the ridge, we will reach an altitude of 5705 m where we will set our Camp I.

Camp 1 to Camp 2 (5,900m/19,357ft):
Leaving Camp 1, we will follow the snowy trail to the top of the ridge. We need to make several small snow steps. We will head east and after walking through the ground, we will reach the top of the ridge that is tapered at the point. We will proceed to the crest of the ridge and move further to the west. Later, we will follow the easy trail on the eastern face to reach the top of the yellow tower. After a bit of a difficult climb of the section, we will reach Camp 2.

Camp 2 to Camp 3 (6,300m/20,770ft):
Moving east, we will proceed to the grey tower. A cautious climb from the tower will take us to an amphitheatre. Climbing further to the gully, we will ascend to the snow slope and proceed to the mushroom ridge from where we will head to Camp 2.7 (6300m).

Camp 3 to Summit (6,812m/22,350ft):
Leaving Camp, we will walk through a crevasse in the upper face and climb the ice slope to the right of Dablam. We will head west and arrive at the small snowfield located below Bergschrund. Crossing it, we will reach the top of the highest-hanging glacier. A final trail through an ice crest will take us to the summit. After spending some time at the summit, we will descend to Base Camp.

These contingency days will help us to make sure that our schedule will go on smoothly without interruption even if there occur complications during our Expedition

After our successful expedition, we leave the Base Camp and retrace our steps to Pangboche. We can rejoice in the views of Everest, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kangtaiga and Kongde ridges and Imja Tse River from Pangboche village.

We will follow the return trail along Imja River that takes us through the forest of birch and spruce to Tengboche village. After brief stop in Tengboche, we will follow the trail through forest of blooming rhododendron to the bridge. We will cross the bridge over Dudh Koshi River and move through Dudh Koshi gorge and pine forest to Sansa village and finally to Namche Bazar.

Our last day of trek following the Dudh Kosi River down to Lukla. It’s only a gradual walk along the Dudhkhosi river after our steep descent from Namche. We’ll have lunch on our way and we make the final climb up to the airstrip at Lukla. Rest of the day is free and you can relax under the warm sun & reflect on the emotional experiences we had during our climb. This is our final day on these fantastic mountains. Later we celebrate our successful completion of climb with our Sherpa guides and porters who we’ve got to know so well & are now good friends.

We get up early in the morning, enjoy our b/fast and get ready for the arrival of our aircraft for the flight back to Katmandu. On our touchdown at the Kathmandu airport, we will be met by our office reps and transferred to your hotel. The rest of your day is free to do your own things.

Free day at Kathmandu. This also serves as a contingency day if there's any delay with the Lukla flights.

Thank you for joining us on this expedition and it has been a pleasure getting to know you during this time. We hope this venture has enriched your experience with happy memories. Keep in touch and hope to hear from you soon. Bon voyage for a safe and pleasant trip home.