Lobuche Peak Climb

After your first night in Kathmandu, you will be well informed on arrival about the time for equipment check. However, sometimes, depending on your flight arrival, if it’s too late into the night we will do this in the afternoon instead of morning to give you some sleep and rest so that you can get rid of that jetlag. In the evening, you will be briefed by your trek and climb leader about your trekking program the next day. In case you have fallen short of any trek and climb equipment that you may need, this time can be used to arrange for it.

You will be transferred to Tribhuvan Airport, domestic terminal early in the morning for Kathmandu to Lukla flight. It takes 30minutes of pleasant flight to take us to Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla. We will be greeted by aerial views of many snow-clad peaks and mountains. Lukla is the gateway to Everest Khumbu region. After reaching Lukla, you will be introduced to other crew members. We will take breakfast at one of the lodges. Once porters prepare necessary luggage, we will begin our trek for Island Peak. We will pursue the stone pathway downhill. After few hours, we will meet the flat trail. The trail has a spiritual ambience. Mani rocks decorate the path while we can rejoice the striking view of Lukla village. We will finally reach Phakding. After refreshment, you will have short walk to nearby village. Time permitting, we will also visit a local monastery. Return to lodge in Phakding for dinner. You will get briefing regarding following day’s trek.

Early in the morning after breakfast, we will continue our journey along Dudhkoshi River. The trail stretches through pine forest. After crossing thrilling suspension bridges at several points and passing through small settlements of Zapute, Toktok, Benkar and Chumoa, we will reach Monjo which is known as the gateway to the Sagarmatha National Park. At Monjo, our trek leader will deal with all necessary national park formalities and then we will enter Sagarmatha National Park. We will take sharp descend to the 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 known as gateway to the high Himalayas. It is also the main trading center and a capital of Sherpa land. We will take a day of rest in Namche for acclimatization purpose. We will take a short hike to the ancient Sherpa village of Thame to wintness the rich Sherpa culture or 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 before heading towards Lobuche peak.

Leaving Namche Bazaar, we will walk along the glacial water of Dudh Koshi River. We will be greeted with views of Mt. Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and, Thamserku and Ama Dablam Mountains. Our journey continues through the colorful forest of blooming rhododendron to Sanasa. The region is rich in wildlife like musk deer and different colorful 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 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 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 an access to Imja Valley. We will take 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 stonewall in Dingboche. Buckwheat, potatoes and barley are the major crops.

We will take final rest day in Dingboche before climbing Island peak. Dingboche is a summer settlement for locals. We can get panoramic views of Ama Dablam, Lhotse and other several big and small peaks from the ridge on the north behind the village. We can also get view of Imja River which flows directly east of the village. You can visit one of the world’s highest billiard parlors. You can also find internet café in Dingboche. So, take rest and save your energy for climbing on forthcoming days.

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 that is festooned with prayer flags. It is also known as the memorial site for deceased legendary Everest climber Babu Chhiri Sherpa. The trail stretches through the Khumbu glacier moraine to Lobuche. On the way, we can rejoice the close-up views of Pumori, Khumbutse and other peaks and mountains.

Leaving Lobuche, we will take couple of hours of walk through Gorak Shep Lake. Brief walk will lead us to the Indian army mountaineers' memorials. Walking further through rocky dunes and moraine, we will reach the Everest Base Camp. The camp site greets us with views of Nuptse Mountain, Khumbuste Mountain and Pumori Mountain. We will return to Gorakshep for overnight stay.

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 sunrise view over Everest from Kalapattar. The route offers us the views of Lingtren, Khumbutse, and Changtse peaks. Once we arrive at Kalapattar, we will get unobstructed views of Mount Everest. After spending memorable time at Kalapattar and capturing the memories in photographs, we will return to Lobuche.

Rest and get organized before moving up for the climb.

In the morning, there will be a climbing course at the nearby hill, where your guides will teach you the required climbing skills and the basic safety instructions. The course will mainly consist of ascending on the fixed rope using Jumar and descending on the fixed rope using ATC guide or Figure 8. Proper usage of safety cord and Terrian instructions will be given too.

In the afternoon, it's free time to rest and get organized before moving up to Lobuche high camp the next day.

Leaving Lobuche village, we will move along 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. 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 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 doesn't involve the use of crampons and the terrain mostly consists of snow and rock. Fixed ropes are usually placed along all the section 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 in the summit, we will lower down to Lobuche High Camp for lunch and then towards Lobuche village.

An extra day scheduled for any delays. Climbing a 6000m peak involves multiple factors such as weather and health condition, etc which can cause a delay or interruption to our itinerary. In such a case, our schedule might get affected. This contingency day will help us to make sure that our schedule will go on smoothly without interruption.

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

Leaving Pangboche early in the morning, 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. The region is rich in Himalayan wildlife like mountain goats, Thars and local birds. We will pass through the chorten to the army camp at Namche Bazaar.

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 while hiking through these massive mountains that have probably helped us re-discover ourselves in ways least expected. This is our final day on these fantastic mountains. Later we celebrate our successful completion of trek & climb with our Sherpa guides and porters who we’ve got to know so well & are now good friends. It’s a pleasure to end this wonderful trip on a happy note. We then slumber into blissful sleep.

Take an early morning flight from Lukla to Kathmandu. We will be transferred to hotel in a private vehicle in Kathmandu. Take leisure and soothe your aching limbs from long and tiring peak climb.

Enjoy a leisure day. You are on your own. Participating in a day tour in Kathmandu is a pleasant plan. You can also go for shopping in Thamel, a tourist hub where you can buy souvenir items like handicrafts and arts to your family. At eventide, we will relish a farewell dinner to celebrate our successful climb. While enjoying our supper, we will also be entertained to a scintillating cultural dance performed by the local belles
Please do not hesitate to let us know if you would like to extend your stay. Kindly email us for more details on extensions.

Finally, the undeniable day of departure arrives. Thank you for joining us on this climb and it has been a pleasure getting to know you during this time.  We hope this venture has enriched your experience with happy memories. You will be assisted in your last minute preparation. Our representative will take you to Tribhuvan International Airport three hours before your scheduled flight. Keep in touch and hope to hear from you soon.  Bon voyage for a safe and pleasant trip home.