Ama dablam Expedition (6856 m)

Once you reach KTM airport and finish with the immigration and custom formalities be prepared to confront the confusion outside the airport which is common in most of the south Asian countries. As you walk out of the Exit door into the passenger pick up area you will see hundreds of people with different sign boards in their hands, taxi drivers looking for fares, hotel touts looking for customers and porters trying to help with the luggage for tips. Please remain calm and do not walk out of the restricted area into the crowd straight away. Remain there and try to find the Hi On Life’s sign board. Once you spot it, walk straight to the signboard and identify yourself. From here we will take care of you.
When you arrive to your hotel you will be briefed about your activities and “do’s and don’ts” while your stay in Kathmandu. We will also collect some documents from you. Please have the following things handy when arriving.

Travel/ Medical Insurance (photo copy)
3 passport size photos
Photocopy of your passport.
In the evening we will go for a traditional Nepali dinner at Kathmandu’s finest Nepali restaurant to end the day.

After breakfast you will be taken for a half day city tour where you will be visiting some historical temples and monuments. You will end your sightseeing with a lunch. After your lunch you will be return to your hotel and your Group leader will give you your trek briefing and issue you your ‘trek pack’ consisting of a duffle bag, down jacket, sleeping bag, inner liner for your sleeping bag and rain poncho. Your afternoon is free for you to do your packing and purchasing your last minute items for your trek.

A very early morning wake up and transfer to the domestic airport to board our flight which is a small 17 seated Twin Otter or Dornier aircraft. The flight times can be flexible because we need clear weather both in Kathmandu and Lukla to be able to fly. So this can sometimes involve waiting in the terminal for a long time. Once we get the all clear signal we take off to our destination on a 40 min scenic mountain flight to Lukla.
After a cup of tea at Paradise Lodge in Lukla we are treading on the legendary “Everest Highway” which heads downwards through the alpine valley following the “Dudh Kosi” or Milk River (named after its milky color from glacial silt). We reach Benkar after a half a day walk and end our first day here.

The next day we will be walking mostly uphill through the alpine valleys and crossing rivers and reach Namche Bazaar, which is the Sherpa capital of the Khumbu region. On a clear day you get views of Everest, Lhotse, Thamserku, Kusum Kangru, Kwangde and Taweche on the way to Namche.

As we will have gained about 700m that day, it demands a rest and acclimatization day for the following day. We will either rest at Namche or trek to Everest View Hotel where you will have a breathtaking view over Mount Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. You will be back at lunchtime and will have plenty of time to rest to make the following day easier.

The trail starts from the Namche Gompa and leads west past a large array of prayer flags, Mani stones and Chortens. The trail is quite easy and it takes about 3 hours to reach Thamo, where we will have lunch. From Thamo we will start to climb towards Thame. The carved Mani stones on the way are some of the most complex and picturesque in Khumbu. Thame is situated in a magnificent kettle surrounded with beautiful and dramatic mountains. Be prepared on awesome sunsets at clear weather!

After climbing the ridge above Thame we enter the Bhote Koshi Valley where the river Bhote Koshi runs in the middle. Just as the name reveals (Bothe = Tibetian, Koshi = River) this valley leads to Tibet and the famous pass Nangpa La . It takes about 4 hours to reach a village called Marlung, we stop here for lunch. After lunch, it is another one hour to Lungden. There are just four lodges and they are very basic with only 3 to 4 rooms in each of the lodge.

We utilize this day for rest and acclimatization. We will do a short hike towards Nangpa La, to a small “village” called Arie. Usually we meet a lot of Tibetan traders here. They are coming with their fully loaded yak caravans from Tibet to sell their gods in Namche. Before we head back to our lodge we get views of the worlds 6th highest mountain, Cho Oyu and many other beautiful peaks both in Nepal and Tibet. In the afternoon we relax and prepare for the next day.

We start early in the morning, generally at 4 to 5 AM. The first one hour of the trek is quite steep. We reach a small dried out lake, from here the trail is a gentle climb for another 2 hrs and finally we reach a big turquoise green lake. From here, the trail is well trodden stony steps all the way to the top of the pass Renjo La which takes about 3-4 more hours. The view from the Pass is extremely beautiful. We get to see a panorama of Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and dozens of other mountains. The view of Everest is one of the best you can get, as you get to see more of Everest from here than from anywhere else in Nepal. After taking pictures, enjoying the stunning view and have a snack to eat we continue down to Gokyo. It takes about 3 hours.

From Gokyo, we descend south and reach the 2nd Lake. From here we cross the Ngo Zumpa glacier towards the east. At the other end of the glacier, we pass beautiful meadows and yak grazing pastures before reaching Thangna. Thangna is a yak grazing pasture and has a few lodges which are open only during the trekking season

We start early and begin to climb a steep hill side. After about an hours climb, the trail becomes less steep and opens up into a beautiful glacial valley. We continue for about an hour through this meadow and reach the bottom of the steep rocky climb below the Chola. The trail is rocky and steep. At few places there are areas for rock falls. Our crew guides us through safe areas and after an hour, we reach the top to the Chola. There are beautiful views of Cho Oyu, Amadablam, Nuptse and the North Face of the infamous Cho Latse. We will set up our camp- you can help the crew with putting up the tents.

Ice Climbing- In the afternoon, our guides will fix ropes at the glacier and begin our ice climbing course with detailed orientation of ice climbing equipments and safety. After the orientation, you will get to try many methods and styles for : Footwork, tool placement, and efficiency. Depending on your level of skills our guides might give you lessons on glacial rescue and lead climbing on multi pitch.

Today we will train on a steeper climbing ice wall on the glacier. We will work on various basic methods and techniques of ice climbing focusing on efficiency and safety.

We begin with a steep descent from the Chola. The trail is quite rough with big stony steps. After a long descent through the rocky terrain, we reach a yak pasture at Dzongla. There are a few lodges here which are open only during trekking season. This meadow becomes vibrant green with various flowers and grasses during the summer and you can see hundreds of yaks enjoying the abundant food, as the yak owners leave their yaks here for grazing. Soon, we are at Lobuche Peak Base Camp.

The next day we set up Advance Base Camp. It should take us about four hours to climb over rocky slopes and some snow to high camp. We are set on a small expanse of snow or rock, above a deep, blue lake and close to the mountain.

We start early for the final summit. Immediately from Advance Base Camp we climb huge smooth rock slabs, which sometimes can be a bit sliperry. The gradient is gentle and easy but due to high altitude we move very slow but gradual. After 2 1/2 hour climbing on these rocky slab, we reach the crampon point. From here we start by climbing an ice ramp towards the south East Ridge, which is a mixture of moderately steep snow and ice. Where necessary, we fix ropes along the route. We ascend steadily to a plateau at around 6000m, which is called the false summit. Normally climbers climb to this point but if the conditions are right then we traverse to an exposed ridge, which will follow to the summit slopes. After about 5 hours of steady climbing we reach the far eastern summit, which for us marks our summit.

From the top, we get excellent views of Ama Dablam, Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Nuptse, Changtse (in Tibet) Pumori, Gyachung Kang, Cho Oyu and the myriad peaks to the west and south. We will pitch our tents on the summit and spend a night there to get acclimatized.

We pack up Base Camp and begin our way back home through an extra ordinarily beautiful valley of Pheriche leaving behind our mountain, Lobuche Peak, behind our back. Stunning views of Cholatse and Taweche can be seen, that towers over us towards the west and massive North West flank of Amadablam right ahead of us. After a break at Pheriche, we continue to descend to a beautiful village of Pangboche. Pangboche is the highest permamnent settlement in the Khumbu.

You can spend your free time in Kathmandu for shopping and sightseeing. If you need any help or advise your group leader will be happy to assist you. The last day will be a mixture of sadness of your departure as well as excitement to catch up with your friends and family to tell them about your adventure.