Complete Guide to Everest Trekking

Last time you were in a jet plane, did you ever wonder what it would be like to breathe the air on the other side of your cabin window, like nine kilometres up?

Do it for real. That’s exactly what climbing the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest, involves.

Don’t let the stats turn you off – this is not the most dangerous climb, but it can be lethal. Less than 2% of those who tackle Mt Everest never make it down (K2 is the nasty one). The odds sound good, hey?

But, before you start checking prices for flights to Nepal or Tibet, take a deep breath. Should you really be doing this? You’ll need between US$45,000 and $100,000 plus two years of fitness training and prep work to tick an Everest ascent (and descent) off your ‘to do before I die’ list. (Here’s a blog post on a breakdown of the costs involved and another one for comparison. You might need a sponsor or two because the climbing permit itself costs US$11,000). It won’t be much cheaper even if you paraglide down like two climbers did talking just 11 minutes. Oh and how high? 8848m is the figure you’re looking for.

The yukky stuff first

Some people call Everest the world’s tallest trash heap even though since 1998 all expeditions have had to carry out their rubbish. Actually the rule is you need to carry eight kg of rubbish out (whether it’s yours or not). Perhaps not their poop though, ahem. Hundreds of people make the climb every year and it’s increasing. For more details on the perils of the peak, watch the US current affairs program, Insight’s take on the peak. There’s the possibility you might be trekking past corpses, too, as this Irish man did. Another reality dose is Hollywood’s take on the 1996 disaster that killed eight people. It’s a biographical movie – not fiction. Then there’s National Geographic’s Dark Side of Everest as more compelling viewing. And you might remember the 2015 Everest basecamp earthquake and avalanche that killed 22 people – this raw footage will hit home. Another danger are yaks, who are aggressive and unpredictable. Standing on slope above them to let them pass is the safest move. And don’t drink the tap water or from streams – purify your drinking water first.

How much time do you have? We’ve heard you need to spend four to eight weeks just acclimatizing at Everest Base Camp, but to do the walk from there to the peak and back, you’re up for two months of your life. Check out what seasoned climber Alan Arnette says about the timing. Whatever route you take from base camp, you’ll have to enter the death zone famous for having just a third of the oxygen found at sea level. Picture your body processes slowing down and decision making getting fuzzy. You’ll probably have shortness of breath and headaches so it will be hard to sleep. Medic Ken Kamler, who’s done the climb, says if you get a simple cut on your skin in the death zone, your body won’t have the energy resources to heal it. Overnight temps are about minus 20 degrees Celsius, but storms can plunge it to an even chilling minus 40, which is when the human body shuts down. In the death zone, if you can’t walk, you’re left to die, we hear, particularly in storms. Just telling it like it is. You’ll face extreme conditions on a magnificent beast of a mountain that you could make part of your own life story. So, how can you make a successful climb happen?

About your age

Teens have tackled this peak. US resident Jordan Romero, who did it in 2010 aged 13, will probably hold the record forever as Nepal has since restricted the climb to those at least 16. Can you be too old? According to The Washington Post, Nepal is looking at introducing a cap in the wake of an 85 year old meeting his death on the mount. That climber, Min Bahadur Sherchan, was actually the oldest person to scale Mount Everest at almost 77 years, but a Japanese climber, Yuichiro Miura beat that as an 80 year old five years later in 2013.

When to go

A lot of this is down to the weather. Get updates through this site, which also gives forecasts for other peaks or this (paid site) Everestweather.com that just focuses on this mountain. The winds year-round pack quite a punch, but ease off from March/April and definitely by May. Consider tapping into a paid rather than a free weather service as the latter often don’t have probabilities assigned to the forecast nor do they mention if there’s a nasty cyclone heading up from the Bay of Bengal. Keen to avoid the crowds? Try just after monsoon season from September to November, before the heavy winters.

Getting fit for your feat

Just to put it into perspective, any trek to base camp is not a touristy trek. Chances are you’re going to want to go higher than the camp, though, to the peak – isn’t that the point? Taking on the challenge in this pristine environment means dedicating between seven to 10 hours a week to train. No idea where to start on getting yourself Everest-fit? Options include fitness trainers with a mountaineering speciality, or your local variation of the US-based Summit Coach, someone who’s tackled the world’s top peak. You’ll need to have climbed a 7,000-metre summit in Nepal to get a permit for a 8,000m peak, but anecdotally this isn’t being enforced.

Mapping your course

This map or this one gives a good overview of trek routes over an aerial map or for something more interactive, look at MapPorn on reddit.com. But for armchair travel mode, snuggle up to this array of Google images for Everest circuit maps. For those not just tyre kicking, fork out about US$30 for the world’s top map seller, Omnimap, from here. They’ll even let you see sample detail from a map, too. A cheaper option is from National Geographic for just under US$12.

Do a deep dive into the trek routes from the Everest Base Camp trek organisation. Their selection includes demanding trekking up to 5,545m – sounds great for your warm up – plus six itineraries from gentle to super-serious trekking and peak climbing. Here’s one video animating the route up to the peak from the Nepal side; and another for the Tibet side. Now that’s an interesting point. Up to this point, you probably thought we’re goading you to tackle the Everest peak, but may be cavorting around the edges is your thing. And that’s OK. But we’ll aim high for now, if you don’t mind.

The base to get you there 

Ok, there’s two base camps – north and south base camps in Nepal and Tibet respectively on opposite sides of Mt Everest. They each call the peak something different – Tibetans say Qomolangma, while in Nepal it’s called Sagarmatha. If you’re unsure which base camp suits you, here’s your options. We know the south is safer (especially coming by helicopter) despite the icefalls and the infamous Lukla Airport by which you’d be arriving. The north side could be easier because you can drive from Lhasa. You could do what this guy did and drive your car up to Everest North base camp, but he had a Nissan GT-R to course through mud, narrow dirt roads and mountain passes. Think about what that speed of arrival would do to help you acclimatize or not, though.

By the time you’re reading this, Nepal should have created free WiFi zones at its Mt Everest base camp – handy for rescues, yes! The base camp is at 5,360 metres and already some hotels and restaurants there offer pricey WiFi at a rate of up to US$5 an hour. If free WiFI is enough of a lure to have you start from the Nepali side, this official tourism site is a good starting point for narrowing down your route. They’ve even detailed a route (teahouse friendly) to get you to Everest Base camp, starting at Lukla, the Sagarmatha National Park at Jorsale, to Namche Bazaar through the valley of Imja Khola where you’ll see Everest and a couple of other peaks. You’ll next visit Tengboche, through Pangboche to Dingboche and Locuche on the Khumbu glacier. You’ll loop through Gorak Shep before the trail takes you back over the glacier to Everest Base Camp. Designer Journeys does an Everest Base Camp trek with local guides for under US$2000, by the way, which is about the average price. Here’s more info on Everest treks from Nepal. You’d want a trekking porter/Sherpa to carry your bags while you’re trekking. Another option is to do the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek to base camp. In short, the Nepal Ministry of Tourism, is going out on a limb to make things safer for climbers. All permit holders now have to hire guides and can’t use helicopters above base camp except for rescues. This means, alas, the top peak is out of reach for people with disabilities.

But if your heart’s set on entering via Tibet, it’s 5,200m above sea level and let’s be honest, there’s no direct flight, bus or train there. You can get there from Lhasa via a privately hired van – that will take a couple of days – or a train from Lhasa to Shigatse, then a 12-hour van trip. Once you start trekking from the base camp, tent hostels are available from April to November, but no hotels once you’re 3.6km north. 

Still unsure? Try the Everest Short Trek or Panorama Trek if you’ve only got a week (once you’ve acclimatized to the altitude). With Kathmandu as your starting and ending point, you’ll still see Mt Everest even if you won’t climb it. This short trek could cost less than US$1,000 per person or less if in a group. That sounds cheap, but as we said in the intro about $45K is what you’re up for.

May be it suits you better to contact trekking agencies directly to customize a tour for you or join a group tour so they organize everything for you.

Need some air?

Seriously, the air is super-thin on Everest, but you can hire oxygen masks to take the edge off altitude sickness. But don’t rely on it. Give yourself at least three days to acclimatize to the low levels of oxygen above 3,000m.

Permits 

If you don’t have a Chinese passport, you’ll need a China visa and a Tibet Entry Permit to get to the southern Everest Base Camp – a China-based travel agency can organize that for you and if you need extra Tibet permits for travel outside Lhasa. You’ll also need a second permit, a Frontier Pass – apply through the Armed Police Tibet Frontier Corps in Lhasa. And there’s a third – the Aliens’ Travel Permit, which the Public Security Bureau issues – without it you can’t get to Everest Base Camp. The Tibet Travel Org gives more details about securing permits. If you’re organizing your own group, check out this website about Mt Everest by climbers. Meanwhile, Nepal actually discounts the climber permit fees depending on the season – go in fall or winter/summer and it’s half price or less.

And if you’re planning to go feral and avoid the permits, here’s a story about someone who did just that.

And another thing 

Everest is emergency beacon territory, but only use them when you really need to. This story in The Guardian talks about people tending to take more risks when they have personal location beacons. This vid gives some pros and cons of using the beacons and, boy, are there a lot of them.

What else do you need trekking wise? The basics are a thermal jacket, sleeping bag, hiking boots or shoes, camera, wipes, sticks/poles, sunblock including for your lips, Swiss army knife, fleece pants, thermal plants, waterproof jacket with a hood, non-cotton T-shirts, pullover/jumper and ski pants. A headlight will come in handy as will sunglasses and a bandana to use as a facemask. Nights you’ll need hand and foot warmers, an insulated water bottle with a tube to drink from, evacuation insurance and local cash.

Why you need to do it

It’s there, a personal best, a challenge, bragging rights for generations to come, get over a relationship breakup or marry there, may be even take on a sabbatical with a killer edge – it’s your pick. This is not a trip for the flippant. Those who’ve succeeded at Everest usually say the same thing – it exposes who you are, what your character is and that’s not always a pretty thing. Expect to be transformed to your core, but you’ll be paying for it monetarily, physically and mentally. Enjoy!