17-Day Island Peak Climbing Nepal

Seventeen Days from Kathmandu to 6,189 Meters and Back

Days 1 to 3  |  Kathmandu and Bhaktapur

Three days in Kathmandu for the expedition briefing and the valley’s cultural sites. Trekking and climbing permits are confirmed on Day 1. Day 2 covers Kathmandu Durbar Square, with the Kumari Ghar and the living goddess, and Swayambhunath on its hilltop above the west of the city, with the Buddha’s eyes painted on all four sides of the stupa’s central tower, looking out across the valley. Day 3 is for Bhaktapur: the five-tiered Nyatapola Temple above Taumadhi Square, Pottery Square, where Bhaktapur’s potters work in the open air, and the medieval lanes of the most intact Newari city in the valley.

Days 4 to 5  |  Lukla to Namche Bazaar

The morning flight to Lukla (2,840 meters) is known for its steep approach to a runway on the valley wall. From Lukla the trail drops to the Dudh Kosi and follows the turquoise, glacier-fed river through shaded pine forest and over a string of suspension bridges to Phakding on Day 4. Day 5 enters Sagarmatha National Park at Monjo, crosses the Hillary Bridge high above the gorge, and makes the long climb to Namche Bazaar (3,440 meters), the Sherpa trading town and the largest settlement in the Khumbu.

Days 6 to 8  |  Namche, Tengboche, and Dingboche

The acclimatization day at Namche on Day 6 includes the walk to the Everest View Hotel (3,880 meters) for your first clear view of Everest and Ama Dablam on this route, and a visit to the Hillary School in Khumjung, a good introduction to Sherpa education and to the mountaineering world Edmund Hillary opened up for the community. Day 7 is Tengboche, the spiritual heart of the Khumbu, with the monastery, the puja, a blessing for the team, and Ama Dablam above the courtyard. On Day 8 you reach Dingboche (4,410 meters), in the alpine meadows above the treeline, where the upper Khumbu begins.

Days 9 to 10  |  Chukung and Base Camp

Day 9 is a short move from Dingboche to Chukung (4,730 meters). It gains altitude slowly so the acclimatization from the days below can settle before the higher ground ahead. The Chukung valley sits beneath the south face of Lhotse and the Nuptse wall. On Day 10 you leave the Chukung lodges for Island Peak high camp, a tented camp in the boulder field below the glacier, for the technical briefing and an early night before the 3am start.

Day 11  |  Island Peak Summit

Summit day starts before dawn. You cross the glacier from high camp by headlamp, with the headwall above you, then climb the snow slopes to the bergschrund and the fixed ropes on the steep summit headwall. From the top, at 6,189 meters, you see the big peaks of the Khumbu: Lhotse directly above, Nuptse to the west, Makalu to the east, Ama Dablam to the south, and the long ridge of Baruntse beyond. You descend to Dingboche the same day, to the warmth of the teahouse after the cold of the summit.

Days 12 to 17  |  Descent and Farewell

You retrace the route through Tengboche and Namche to Lukla, moving faster now that you are acclimatized. The last night in Lukla is a celebration with the whole Sherpa team before the flight back to Kathmandu. The final three days in the capital include a free day for shopping in Thamel and the farewell dinner on Day 16, with traditional Nepali food and folk dances, before your departure from Tribhuvan International Airport on Day 17.

Day by Day

Day 1  Kathmandu  Arrival

A private transfer takes you to your luxury boutique hotel in Lazimpat or Thamel. The evening is free to explore the lanes of Thamel, the market district, where the shops sell handicrafts, Tibetan carpets, singing bowls, thangka paintings, and gear from three generations of mountain outfitters. The expedition briefing that evening goes over the full seventeen-day itinerary and introduces the guide team.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

Day 2  Kathmandu  City of Temples Discovery

A day at the valley’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites before the mountains. Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the Kumari Ghar, home of the living goddess, and the Hanuman Dhoka palace complex, whose courtyards and museum trace the Kathmandu kingdom from the Licchavi period to the present century. Swayambhunath, on its hilltop at the western edge of the city, is the oldest Buddhist site in the valley. You climb the 365 steps of the eastern staircase, lined with prayer wheels and stone carvings, to the stupa at the top, where the Buddha’s eyes are painted on each of its four sides, looking out over the valley. In the afternoon we finalize the trekking and climbing permits, and a briefing with the guide team confirms the logistics for the days ahead.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

Day 3  Bhaktapur  Slow Immersion

Bhaktapur, the easternmost and most intact of the three medieval Newari cities of the Kathmandu Valley, is the last stop before the mountains. Its car-free lanes, stone courtyards, and Malla-era art and architecture are the most complete surviving example of a Newari town. The Nyatapola Temple in Taumadhi Square, at 30 meters the tallest temple in Nepal, was built in 1702 during the reign of King Bhupatindra Malla. Its five tiers narrow as they rise, each guarded by a pair of figures more powerful than the pair below. In Pottery Square, the potters of Bhaktapur work at their wheels and kilns in the open, in front of their own houses, and you can watch the craft up close.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

Day 4  Lukla to Phakding  Flight to the Clouds

The morning flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (2,840 meters) is one of the best-known mountain approaches in the world: the plane comes in steeply toward a runway that slopes uphill to the valley wall, and the mountains are in view from takeoff. The thirty-five-minute flight ends at Lukla, the starting point for most Khumbu expeditions. After a briefing with the full guide and Sherpa team at the airstrip, the trail drops toward the Dudh Kosi, the turquoise glacial water showing through the pine forest below as you switchback down toward Phakding. You cross the first suspension bridges today, with the river below and thick, shaded forest on both banks. The walk to Phakding takes three to four hours.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge at Phakding

Day 5  Phakding to Namche Bazaar  The Climb to Namche

From Phakding the trail follows the Dudh Kosi upstream through pine and rhododendron forest, crossing the river on suspension bridges that sit higher above the gorge each time. You enter Sagarmatha National Park at Monjo, where the permits we arranged in Kathmandu are checked, and from here on you are in one of the most protected mountain landscapes in Nepal. The Hillary Bridge, the highest bridge on this section, is so far above the Dudh Kosi that the river looks like a turquoise thread in the gorge. Then comes the long climb to Namche Bazaar, a steady 600-meter ascent through forest that opens onto the amphitheater of stone houses and lodges at the top, and the hardest part of the standard Khumbu approach. Your first clear view of Everest, above the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge, comes on the final stretch into town.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge in Namche Bazaar

Day 6  Namche Bazaar  The Sherpa Capital and Acclimatization

This is the most important acclimatization day of the Khumbu approach. The rule is to walk high and sleep low: you gain altitude during the day and come back down to sleep. The trail from Namche to the Everest View Hotel at 3,880 meters climbs 440 meters above where you slept and gives you the first clear panorama of the Everest region: Everest above the Nuptse-Lhotse ridge, Ama Dablam to the southeast with its twin ice flutings in full view, and Thamserku and Kangtega above the valley. Khumjung, a short walk from the hotel, is home to the Hillary School, which Edmund Hillary built in 1961. The Sherpa community asked for the school, and Hillary funded and built it as his first project for the people whose members had made the first ascent of Everest possible. It is still the main school for the children of Khumjung, Khunde, and the surrounding villages.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge in Namche Bazaar

Day 7  Namche to Tengboche  The Spiritual Heart

From Namche the trail follows the ridge above the Dudh Kosi valley, drops to the river at Phunki Tenga, and climbs steeply through rhododendron forest to the monastery ridge at 3,860 meters. The forest climb to Tengboche is one of the prettiest stretches of the whole Khumbu trail, with rhododendrons in bloom in spring and thick, mossy forest the rest of the year, and the monastery comes into view above the trees near the top. Tengboche Gompa, founded in 1916 and rebuilt after a fire in 1989, is the most important monastery in the Khumbu and the religious center of Sherpa life in the high valley. The afternoon puja in the main assembly hall, with the long dungchen horns, cymbals, and drums of the monastery’s musicians, is one of the best chances on any trekking route in Nepal to see Tibetan Buddhist monastic practice.

From the courtyard you see the full southwest face of Ama Dablam, and many visitors to the Khumbu remember it longer than any other mountain, Everest included. In the late afternoon light you can make out the summit of Ama Dablam at 6,812 meters and the hanging glacier called the dablam, the mother’s charm box.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge at Tengboche

Day 8  Tengboche to Dingboche  Above the Tree Line

From Tengboche the trail drops through the forest to cross the Imja Khola at Pangboche, then climbs steadily through the upper Khumbu to the high meadows of Dingboche at 4,410 meters. The river crossing is where the forested lower valley gives way to open alpine ground: the treeline ends at Pangboche, and above it the land turns to rock, grass, and the stone walls of yak pastures that Khumbu Sherpa families have kept up for centuries. Watch for the Danphe, the Himalayan monal pheasant and national bird of Nepal, which is often seen in the open ground above the treeline. In good light the iridescent male is one of the best bird sightings on the Khumbu trail.

Dingboche, at 4,410 meters in the Imja Khola valley, is the last village of any size before Island Peak. Its flat meadows are walled in stone that families have built and repaired over generations, with yaks grazing inside, lodges with metal roofs weighted down against the wind, and the huge south face of Lhotse above the valley to the north. This is where most trekkers first clearly notice the thinner air. High-altitude travel can cause serious illness, even in fit travelers. Acclimatization reduces risk but cannot eliminate it. Tell your guide promptly about symptoms. Your guide may stop an ascent, change the route or arrange descent. Rescue and medical treatment depend on location, weather, access and available resources and cannot be guaranteed.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge at Dingboche

Day 9  Dingboche to Chukung  Chukung Valley Transition

A short day of four to five kilometers up the Imja Khola valley to Chukung at 4,730 meters, climbing gradually through high pasture below the south face of Lhotse. We keep it short on purpose: you add 320 meters of sleeping altitude and let the acclimatization from Dingboche settle without a long, tiring day. Chukung is walled in on three sides by the southern face of Lhotse, the Nuptse ridge, and the glaciated peaks above the Imja Glacier. You can see Island Peak from the upper trail and from the Chukung lodges, and you can pick out its southwest face, the summit headwall, and the ridge you will climb.

Stay: High-Altitude Lodge at Chukung

Day 10  Island Peak Base Camp  The Final Preparation

Today you leave the Khumbu lodges behind. The trail climbs through the boulder field below the peak and across the glacier approach to high camp, set in the rocks above the glacier at about 5,500 meters. The air is thin here, and everyone on the team moves and breathes more slowly. From camp you can see the summit headwall above, while the Chukung valley drops out of sight below. This is the last camp before the early start.

The technical briefing at high camp covers everything the summit route needs: fitting and using crampons, the ice axe, the harness and rope system, the bergschrund crossing, the fixed ropes on the summit headwall at 50 to 60 degrees, the start time, the turnaround rules, and the backup plans for bad weather or for anyone who is not feeling strong. Summit day starts at about 3am, so the whole team is briefed on every part of the route and in bed early.

Stay: Professional Tented Camp at Island Peak High Camp

Day 11  Island Peak 6,189m  The Summit Push

Summit day starts in the dark. The team leaves high camp before 3am, moving by headlamp under the stars. The glacier route to the bergschrund is on moderate ground, well traveled by earlier teams. The bergschrund is the crevasse at the head of the glacier where the moving ice pulls away from the rock above. You cross it at a fixed point and reach the base of the summit headwall, a snow and ice slope of 50 to 60 degrees with fixed ropes for protection. The headwall is the technical crux of the route, and you take it slowly and carefully. Above it, the summit ridge leads to the eastern summit at 6,189 meters.

From the summit, Lhotse (8,516 meters) stands directly above you to the north, and you see the full south face of the world’s fourth-highest mountain at close range. Nuptse’s long ridge is to the west, Makalu (8,485 meters) to the east, and Ama Dablam to the south, a 360-degree view of the Khumbu’s highest peaks. The cold and the thin air keep your time on top short. You come down to Dingboche the same day, to a warm lodge and teahouse food after a summit day of about ten to twelve hours.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodge at Dingboche

Days 12 to 14  The Khumbu Descent  The Homeward Path

From Dingboche you retrace the route through Tengboche and Namche, covering in three days what took seven on the way up, now that your legs are acclimatized. You pass Tengboche’s monastery, where the team received its blessing, on the way down through the forest. Namche, with its bakeries, teahouses, and Saturday market on the ridge, is your last stop in the Sherpa heartland before the trail drops to the river and climbs to Lukla.

The last night in Lukla is the team’s celebration in the mountains. The guides, climbing staff, and porters who carried the gear through the approach and the summit gather with you in the teahouses on Lukla’s main street to trade stories of the climb and the descent and to mark what the team did together. The flight back to Kathmandu the next morning takes about thirty-five minutes and ends the mountain part of the trip.

Stay: Premium Mountain Lodges

Days 15 to 17  Kathmandu  Return and Farewell Family Dinner

The flight brings you back to Kathmandu and the comfort of the boutique hotel. Use the free day for last-minute shopping in Thamel’s gear shops and craft stalls. In the thicker air of the valley your body starts to recover from the altitude it has carried since Dingboche, and many experienced climbers say these easy city days are one of the best parts of the trip.

The farewell family dinner on Day 16, with traditional Nepali food and a folk dance program at one of the cultural restaurants of the old city, closes the expedition. The lead climbing Sherpa, the trekking guide, the kitchen crew, and the porters who made the summit possible are at the center of that evening. Departure from Tribhuvan International Airport on Day 17.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays trip is fully supported from arrival to departure. Here is what that means on this seventeen-day expedition.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu Hotel: 5 nights in a luxury boutique hotel in twin-sharing rooms, with a gourmet breakfast every day.
• Premier Mountain Lodges: 10 nights in the best available lodges on the Khumbu route, chosen by our family for location, quality, and closeness to each day’s destination.
• Base Camp Camping: 1 night of full-service expedition camping at the Island Peak high camp, with premium double-occupancy tents, waterproof sleeping mattresses, and a heated dining tent.
• Full Board on Trek: All meals on the trek and climb: breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, freshly prepared by the expedition kitchen.
• Professional Kitchen: A dedicated expedition cook and kitchen crew, with fresh coffee, milk, and fruit juices at every meal, for groups of 2 or more.

Leadership and Support

• Lead Climbing Sherpa: A dedicated lead climbing Sherpa with deep family knowledge of Island Peak and the Khumbu, who handles all technical rope work, glacier route preparation, and summit-day safety.
• Trekking Guide: One English-speaking Sherpa trekking guide specializing in the history, culture, and natural history of the Khumbu, the Sherpa people, and the peaks of the area.
• Porter Team: Professional porters carry all group equipment and luggage on the trek, so you walk with only a light daypack.
• Medical Safety: Emergency medical oxygen and a full high-altitude first-aid kit carried at all times on the upper mountain, with trained staff to use both.

Transport and Permits

• Private Transfers: All ground transportation in Kathmandu by private, air-conditioned vehicle, including airport pickup, city sightseeing transfers, and the drive to the domestic airport.
• Domestic Flights: Round-trip domestic flights on the Kathmandu to Lukla to Kathmandu route for the full team, including all domestic airport departure taxes.
• All Permits: All domestic airport taxes, Sagarmatha National Park entry fees, and Island Peak climbing permits, paid and arranged before you leave Kathmandu.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu and Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner in Kathmandu during the city days
• Personal technical climbing equipment: crampons, ice axe, harness, helmet, and high-altitude sleeping bag
• Comprehensive travel insurance, which is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation (including helicopter rescue at high altitude), trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation.
• Specialized high-altitude snacks, personal altitude foods, and any expenses of a personal nature
• Tips for lead climbing Sherpa, trekking guide, kitchen crew, and porters
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

The Summit of Island Peak at 6,189 Meters

Island Peak sits in the middle of the Khumbu’s highest mountains, with Lhotse, Nuptse, and Makalu all around it. The summit, at 6,189 meters, has a 360-degree view: Lhotse’s full south face directly above, Nuptse’s long ridge to the west, Makalu to the east, and Ama Dablam to the south. From high camp the route crosses a glacier and a bergschrund, then climbs a steep summit headwall of 50 to 60 degrees on fixed ropes. Summit day starts at 3am and takes ten to twelve hours in total.

Tengboche Monastery and the Sherpa Blessing

Tengboche Gompa, at 3,860 meters, is the most important monastery in the Khumbu and the spiritual center of Sherpa life in the high valley. At the afternoon puja in the main assembly hall you hear the long dungchen horns and the rhythm of cymbals and drums, and it is one of the best chances on any trekking route in Nepal to see Tibetan Buddhist monastic practice. The team receives the traditional blessing from the senior monks before heading on to the high peaks. From the courtyard you see the full southwest face of Ama Dablam and the hanging glacier that gives the mountain its name.

The Hillary School at Khumjung

On the acclimatization day at Namche you walk to Khumjung and the Hillary School, which Edmund Hillary built for the Sherpa community in 1961, eight years after the first ascent of Everest. After the summit, Hillary put his effort into the schools, hospitals, and bridges the Sherpa people asked for, rather than the monuments the outside world expected. The school at Khumjung was the first and most important of those projects. It is still the main school for the children of Khumjung, Khunde, and the surrounding villages, and a visit gives you a real sense of what education, and the mountaineering world that Hillary’s trust opened up, have meant to the Sherpa community.

Everest Views from the Khumbu Trail

The approach to Island Peak follows the Everest Base Camp trail through the Khumbu, and the views over the seven days from Lukla to Chukung are some of the best known in the world. You see Everest above the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge from the trail above Namche, Ama Dablam from the Tengboche monastery courtyard, the Lhotse south face from the meadows of Dingboche, and Island Peak itself from the lodges of Chukung, where you can pick out the summit headwall from below.

Lodges and High Camp

Our family chose the lodges for the ten nights on the trail for their location, their quality, and the care their owners take. Khumbu lodges have improved a great deal since trekking began here, and the best of them now have heated dining rooms, private or semi-private rooms, reliable meals, and the warmth of a family teahouse at altitude. For the one night of camping at Island Peak high camp, a professional expedition kitchen crew runs a heated dining tent and cooks fresh meals, so you are warm and well fed before summit day.