Weather delayed our Lobuche Peak summit attempt by a full day
Wind picked up badly the night before our planned summit push from high camp, guide made the call to wait it out an extra day rather than risk it. glad the itinerary had that spare day built in near the end otherwise it would’ve been a real problem for our flights. second attempt went smoothly, technical near the top with fixed ropes but manageable with the training we’d had at base camp. Dingboche’s acclimatization hike up nagarjun hill days earlier turned out to be more useful prep than i realized at the time.
Farida Haidari
Kabul, Afghanistan
Summit day was 11 hours, longest day of my life
Knew lobuche peak summit day would be long going in but living through eleven hours of it is different, left high camp at 5600m in the dark and didn’t get back to pheriche until well after dark again. summit itself at 6119m was clear, everest and nuptse right there, worth the exhaustion. ebc and kala patthar earlier in the trip already felt like a full trip on their own before the actual climbing even started.
Tomasz Wiśniewski
Lodz, Poland
Most recommended everest trek was worth it
Went in expecting the ebc section to be the main event and the climb almost an afterthought, got that completely backwards. kala patthar sunrise was great, no complaints there. but island peak summit morning, crossing the glacier in the dark with headlamps and fixed ropes, then watching the sun hit lhotse and makalu from the top, that’s the part i actually think about now. base camp days before the climb were good for nerves too, guide walked us through the gear slowly, nothing felt rushed.
Mateus Rocha
Recife, Brazil
Chhukhung was where I almost turned back
Altitude hit me hard around Chhukhung, worse than anything on the ebc portion earlier in the trip, seriously considered not continuing to base camp. rest day there helped more than i expected. high camp the night before summit was freezing and cramped, barely slept. The climb itself, ladders over crevasses and a fixed rope section near the top, was more technical than i’d mentally prepared for but our guide talked me through every section calmly. Reaching 6189m after almost quitting a few days earlier is still hard to fully process.
Priya Ramaswamy
Bangalore, India
Best 20 days in Everest Base Camp
Liked that this trip includes the full ebc route before even getting to the climbing part, kala patthar sunrise on day 9 was already a highlight before island peak was even in view. base camp for the climb itself was calmer than i expected, small group, good briefing on the ropes and ladders we’d need higher up. summit day started around 2am, glacier crossing with fixed ropes near the top that tested my nerves more than my legs honestly.
Kristjan Toom
Tartu, Estonia
Didn’t expect Langtang village to hit different on the way back down
Both climbs went smoothly for us, yala peak straightforward, naya kanga a bit more technical near the top but manageable. what surprised me was walking back through langtang village on day 14, remembered the 2015 earthquake damage from something i’d read before the trip and seeing the rebuilt homes up close hit harder than either summit did honestly. twenty days, would do it again.
Felipe Ortiz
Monterrey, Mexico
Naya Kanga summit day tested me more than I expected
Went in thinking yala peak would be the harder of the two climbs since it comes first, turned out naya kanga at high camp humbled me properly, wind picked up badly overnight and none of us slept much before the ascent. the rest day built in at branchen kharka before the climb helped mentally more than physically i think, gave time to just sit with the nerves. reaching the summit and looking back at Langtang Lirung from up there made the rough night worth it. Kyanjin Gompa earlier in the trip was calm in a way that now feels like a different trip entirely.
Amara Chukwu
Lagos, Nigeria
Two summits in one trip, Yala first, then Naya Kanga
Liked that this trip stacks two peaks instead of just one, yala peak felt like a good warm up before naya kanga’s high camp pushed things up a notch, proper rope and crampon work on summit day at 5100m. Langtang Village and kyanjin gompa in the first week were relaxed by comparison, good acclimatization pacing before things got serious.
Simon Achterberg
Nijmegen, Netherlands
My first 6000m peak, chose a good one
Did some smaller climbs back home but nothing above 5000m before this. mera base camp felt manageable, high camp the night before summit push was rough, though, barely slept from cold and nerves combined. crampon and rope training our guide gave us at base camp made the actual summit day less intimidating than i thought it would be. Worth doing before attempting anything harder.
Andres Villalobos
Concepcion, Chile
Two acclimatization days weren’t enough for me, glad the spare day existed
Struggled more with the altitude than i expected between thagnag and base camp, headaches that just wouldn’t fully go away even with the rest days built in. ended up needing that spare day after the summit attempt window, weather had closed in on our first planned try. second attempt worked out, standing on top of mera with that whole wall of 8000m peaks in view made the delay feel worth it in hindsight. Chutanga at the very start already felt higher and colder than I was prepared for; I wish i’d trained harder beforehand.
Naledi Mokoena
Pretoria, South Africa