24-Day Pachermo Peak Climbing Nepal

Twenty-Four Days from Kathmandu to 6,187 Meters and the Khumbu

Days 1 to 3  |  Kathmandu

Three days in Kathmandu for the expedition briefing and the valley’s UNESCO heritage sites: Swayambhunath on its hilltop above the city, Patan’s medieval Durbar Square and its Newari temples, Pashupatinath on the Bagmati River with its cremation ghats and ochre-robed sadhus, and Bhaktapur’s Golden Gate and Fifty-Five Windowed Palace. On the morning of Day 2 there is an optional Everest Mountain Flight east along the Himalayan chain at sunrise, a first look from the air at the mountains ahead.

Days 4 to 10  |  Charikot and the Rolwaling Valley

The drive from Kathmandu to Charikot is the last stretch of road before seven days of walking into the Rolwaling. From Charikot the trail climbs through Tamang villages whose culture and religious traditions differ from both the Sherpa communities above and the Newari cities of the valley below. Their prayer flags, mani stones, and gompas are the first signs of the Tibetan Buddhist world you move further into as you climb. Rhododendron forest gives way to sub-alpine country, and Gauri Shankar (7,134 meters) comes into close view from a trail few visitors use, one of the best mountain views in Nepal. The Sherpa village of Bedding (3,695 meters) is the acclimatization base: a rest day here, with a walk to the high pastures above the village, prepares your body for the glacier terrain higher up.

Days 11 to 13  |  Tsho Rolpa and the Trakarding Glacier

The route from Bedding follows the Rolwaling Khola upstream to Tsho Rolpa (4,580 meters), one of the largest and loveliest glacial lakes in Nepal, its turquoise water held against the terminal moraine of the Trakarding Glacier with the peaks of the Rolwaling Himal on all sides. Beyond the lake, the route to the Tashi Lapcha crosses the Trakarding Glacier itself, through ice pinnacles, crevasses, and moraine debris you do not meet on the standard trekking routes. This stretch calls for crampons, an ice axe, and a steady pace, and it is what the acclimatization days at Bedding and the technical gear brought from Kathmandu are for.

Days 14 to 16  |  Tashi Lapcha Pass and High Camp

The Tashi Lapcha Pass (5,755 meters) is the high point of the Rolwaling-Khumbu crossing and the technical link between the two valleys. The final approach from the glacier includes a fixed-rope section on steep snow and ice. From the pass, the descent into the Khumbu drops steeply to the meadows of Teng and then to the Bhote Kosi valley below. The Pachermo high camp at 5,550 meters is set up on the Khumbu side of the pass, and the two days at and above the pass cover the hardest technical terrain of the expedition. The summit push on Day 17 starts from this camp.

Day 17  |  Pachermo Peak Summit

Leave high camp at 3am. The north-west ridge to the summit at 6,187 meters is mixed glacier, snow, and rock, well defined, with real exposure on both sides in the upper section. From the top you see Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang, Menlungtse, and the whole Rolwaling Himal you have walked beneath for the past two weeks. The round trip from high camp takes ten to twelve hours.

Days 18 to 24  |  Thame, Namche, Lukla, and Farewell

From the Pachermo high camp, descend through the Khumbu to Thame (3,820 meters), the village that has produced more Everest summiteers than any other community in Nepal. Tenzing Norgay grew up here, and Apa Sherpa, who once held the record for the most Everest summits, was born here. The Nyingmapa monastery above the village, founded in the sixteenth century, is one of the oldest in the Khumbu and still the center of village religious life. Then on to Namche Bazaar and down the trail to Lukla for the flight back to Kathmandu. A farewell dinner in the capital, with traditional Nepali food and folk dances, ends the twenty-four days.

Day by Day

Days 1 to 3  Kathmandu  Cultural Foundation

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport and transfer to your luxury boutique hotel, where we greet you with a traditional Sherpa welcome ceremony. The first evening is for rest and the expedition briefing: the full twenty-four day itinerary, the altitude profile from Charikot to the Tashi Lapcha and the Pachermo summit, technical gear, the acclimatization plan, and the arrangements for permits, transport, and logistics.

Day 2 covers the valley’s Buddhist sites. If you take the optional Everest Mountain Flight, you start at sunrise in a small aircraft flying east along the Himalayan chain, with the peaks from Everest to Kanchenjunga outside the cabin windows for forty minutes. Swayambhunath, the self-existent stupa on the hilltop at the western edge of the city, has been a center of Buddhist practice for over two thousand years. You climb the eastern staircase past prayer wheels and stone carvings worn smooth by centuries of hands, then look out across the valley from the top: a first look at the Himalayan Buddhist world you will walk into above Bedding. In the afternoon, Patan Durbar Square has the densest and best temple architecture of the valley’s three medieval royal squares.

Day 3 covers the Hindu sacred sites and Bhaktapur. Pashupatinath, on the Bagmati River, is the most sacred Hindu site in Nepal and one of the most important Shiva temples in the world. From the eastern bank you can watch the cremation ghats, the ochre-robed sadhus, and the daily round of worship, none of it put on for visitors. Bhaktapur, the best preserved of the three medieval Newari cities, has the Golden Gate, the best-known piece of gilt repousse metalwork in Nepal, at the entrance to the Palace of Fifty-Five Windows, with the palace facade behind it. The old town lanes are car-free, and more Newari architecture survives here than anywhere else in the valley. This is your last evening in Kathmandu before the drive to Charikot.

Stay: Luxury Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu

Days 4 to 7  Charikot to Bedding  Into the Rolwaling

The drive from Kathmandu to Charikot on the Lamosangu-Jiri Highway takes five to six hours through the middle hills of Dolakha district. Charikot (1,940 meters) is the last town on the road before the Rolwaling trail, a market town with lodges and supplies. From Charikot the trail drops to the Tama Koshi river, then climbs steeply through the Tamang villages of the lower Rolwaling, whose culture and religious traditions differ from both the Sherpa settlements above and the Newari cities of the valley below. Prayer flags, carved mani stones, and whitewashed gompas line the trail, the first signs of a Tibetan Buddhist world that grows stronger the higher you climb.

Above the lower villages, the rhododendron forest blooms in spring and is dense and mossy the rest of the year. The trail follows the Rolwaling Khola upstream, the river audible below through the trees, and crosses it on a series of suspension bridges. The Tamang villages along the way, with their stone houses, their weaving, and gompas painted inside in the Tibetan tradition, are a large part of what makes this approach worth walking. As you gain height, Gauri Shankar (7,134 meters) comes more and more into view. The Sherpa and Tamang communities below it have long held it among the most sacred mountains in the Himalaya, and its twin summits above the valley, seen close up from a trail very few trekkers use, are one of the best mountain views in Nepal.

Stay: Best Available Tea Houses and Lodges en Route

Days 8 to 10  Bedding and Na  Rolwaling Acclimatization

Bedding (3,695 meters) is the main permanent Sherpa settlement in the Rolwaling: stone houses and a gompa, far enough from any road that it has kept a character the busier Khumbu villages have lost. The rest day here matters. You have gained a lot of height since Charikot, and the days above Bedding add more quickly. The acclimatization walk to the summer pastures above the village, at 4,200 meters or higher, lets you climb high and sleep low, so your body adjusts without the strain of a night at the higher point.

Na (4,180 meters), a short walk above Bedding, is the highest permanent settlement in the Rolwaling and the last village before the alpine terrain of the upper valley. Families here keep the high pastures for summer grazing, and the yak herders you see in summer are descendants of the people who opened the trade route over the Tashi Lapcha to the Khumbu, the route you will follow. From the village you see the Rolwaling Himal, with Chamlang, Ramdung, and the glaciated peaks above the upper valley: the country you will be moving through in the days ahead.

Stay: Best Available Lodges in Bedding and Na

Days 11 to 13  Tsho Rolpa and the Trakarding Glacier  The Glacial World

From Na, the trail follows the Rolwaling Khola upstream to the terminal moraine of the Trakarding Glacier and the glacial lake of Tsho Rolpa (4,580 meters). Tsho Rolpa is one of the most important glacial lakes in Nepal, for its beauty and for science. It has grown a great deal as the Trakarding Glacier retreats, and engineers have worked on the moraine dam at its lower end to reduce the risk of a glacial lake outburst flood. Its turquoise water against the moraine, with the Rolwaling Himal reflected on the surface, is one of the best glacial lake views in the country.

Beyond Tsho Rolpa, the route to the Tashi Lapcha crosses the Trakarding Glacier through ice pinnacles, seracs, crevasse fields, and moraine debris. The glacier is retreating, and its surface is a jumble of melting ice and rubble that needs careful route-finding and the technical gear brought from Kathmandu. The high camp below the Tashi Lapcha is on the glacier at about 5,200 meters, a quiet, cold night in tents with the Rolwaling Himal above. You leave for the pass from here with an alpine start.

Stay: Professional Tented Camp

Days 14 to 16  Tashi Lapcha Pass and High Camp  The Technical Crossing

The Tashi Lapcha Pass (5,755 meters) is the high point of the Rolwaling-Khumbu crossing and the gateway between the Rolwaling and the Khumbu. You leave the glacier camp in the early hours, the team’s headlamps strung out across the ice under the stars. The fixed-rope section on steep snow and ice below the pass is the hardest part of the crossing and calls for crampon and ice axe technique and careful movement on the rope. From the pass you see the Rolwaling valley stretching west below, the Khumbu opening to the east, and the high peaks of both ranges at once, one of the widest views in the Himalaya.

The descent into the Khumbu is steep, with downclimbing on fixed ropes before the angle eases toward the meadows of Teng below. The two sides of the pass are very different: the Rolwaling side is remote, glaciated, and rarely visited, while the Khumbu side leads into the valleys of the best-known trekking route in the world. The Pachermo high camp at 5,550 meters is on the Khumbu side above the pass, on the moraine below the peak’s north-west ridge. In the afternoon at high camp, your guides give the final technical briefing for the summit push: the route, the timing, the conditions to expect, and the contingency plans.

Stay: Professional High-Altitude Tented Camp

Day 17  Pachermo Peak 6,187m  The Summit

Summit day starts at 3am. The first hours across the glacier from high camp are by headlamp, under the stars. The north-west ridge from the glacier to the summit at 6,187 meters is mixed snow, ice, and rock, well defined and marked by earlier parties. The upper ridge is exposed on both sides and needs careful crampon work and a steady pace. It is a long, cold climb, and the view from the top is wide: Everest and Lhotse to the east, Cho Oyu and Gyachung Kang to the north, Menlungtse and Gauri Shankar above the Rolwaling behind you, and the Khumbu Himal to the south.

You are back at high camp by mid-afternoon, after the usual ten to twelve hours for summit day on Pachermo. From high camp, the descent to the Thame valley ends the technical part of the expedition and begins the walk down through the Sherpa heartland.

Stay: Professional High-Altitude Tented Camp then Lodges

Days 18 to 21  Thame and Namche Bazaar  The Khumbu Descent

From the Pachermo high camp, the descent follows the valley down to Thame (3,820 meters), a small village with a large place in the history of Himalayan mountaineering. Tenzing Norgay, who made the first ascent of Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953, grew up in Thame. Apa Sherpa, who held the record for the most Everest summits with twenty-one, was born here. Dozens of other Sherpas with important first ascents and high-altitude records also come from this village of stone houses and tea houses under the monastery.

Thame’s Nyingmapa monastery, founded in the sixteenth century and built into the cliff above the village, is one of the oldest in the Khumbu and still the center of village religious life. From it you look over the Bhote Kosi valley and the peaks the community has lived under for centuries. The trail from Thame to Namche Bazaar follows the Bhote Kosi downstream through its gorge, and the valley widens into the busier, more familiar lower Khumbu. Namche (3,440 meters), with its market, bakeries, and gear shops, is the last real town before the trail to Lukla.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 22 to 24  Lukla to Kathmandu  The Return and Farewell

The trail from Namche to Lukla follows the Dudh Kosi downstream through its gorge, over the suspension bridges and past the porter traffic of the best-known trekking route in the world, back to the airstrip. The last night in Lukla is a celebration with the Sherpa team in the tea houses on the main street. The flight from Lukla to Kathmandu takes about thirty-five minutes.

On the final evening, a farewell dinner at one of the old city’s cultural restaurants, with traditional Nepali food and a folk dance program, closes the expedition. The Sherpa guides, climbing staff, high-altitude porters, cook, and crew who supported every member of the team through the Rolwaling and the Khumbu are the people most responsible for what the team achieved, and the dinner is a good time to thank them. You depart from Tribhuvan International Airport on Day 24.

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 one.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu Hotel: 4 nights in a luxury boutique hotel in Kathmandu, with daily breakfast.
• Full-Service Camping: 7 nights of premium expedition camping on the Trakarding Glacier, the Tashi Lapcha crossing, and at Pachermo high camp, with double-size tents, waterproof sleeping mattresses, and heated dining setups for comfort at altitude.
• Mountain Lodges: 12 nights in the best available tea houses and lodges in the Rolwaling Valley and the Khumbu.
• Expedition Nutrition: Full board on the trek: freshly cooked camp meals, with coffee, milk, and fruit juices throughout the mountain section.
• Professional Kitchen: A dedicated expedition cook and full kitchen crew with professional stoves and equipment, cooking fresh food at every camp.

Leadership and Support

• Climbing Sherpas: Dedicated climbing Sherpas with high-altitude experience on the Tashi Lapcha and Pachermo routes, who handle all technical rope work and route preparation.
• Lead Guide: One English-speaking Sherpa trekking guide who knows the Rolwaling Valley, its culture, and the Khumbu approach well.
• Porter Team: Professional porters carry all group equipment and luggage on the trek, so you walk with only a daypack.
• Medical Safety: Emergency medical oxygen carried at all times on the high-altitude sections above the Tashi Lapcha and on the Pachermo summit route.

Transport and Permits

• Private Transfers: All ground transportation in Kathmandu and on the drive to Charikot by private, air-conditioned vehicle.
• Domestic Flights: The flight from Lukla to Kathmandu for the full team at the end of the expedition, including airport departure taxes.
• All Permits: All entry fees, Gaurishankar Conservation Area permits, Sagarmatha National Park permits, and Pachermo Peak climbing permits.

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, high-altitude boots, and warm layers
• 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.
• Personal altitude foods and supplements, extra snacks, and beverages beyond the camp provision
• Baggage fees for personal luggage exceeding 20 kg
• Tips for Sherpa guides, climbing staff, porters, and the expedition cook
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

The Rolwaling Valley

The Rolwaling Valley runs east from Charikot under the southern face of Gauri Shankar (7,134 meters), a peak held to be one of the most sacred in the Himalaya and the last major Himalayan summit opened to climbing. The Tamang villages of the lower approach and the Sherpa settlements of Bedding and Na higher up see little of the trekking traffic on the popular routes. The valley is still remote: close views of Gauri Shankar from a trail few western visitors have used, Tamang gompas painted inside, and the empty high valley above Na, none of which you find on the standard trekking routes in Nepal.

The Tashi Lapcha Pass at 5,755 Meters

The Tashi Lapcha is the glacier pass between the Rolwaling and the Khumbu, and the crossing this expedition is built around. From the Rolwaling side, the approach crosses the Trakarding Glacier through ice pinnacles, crevasses, and moraine, terrain you do not meet on the standard trekking routes. The fixed-rope section below the pass calls for crampon and ice axe technique. From the top you see both valleys at once: the Rolwaling stretching west below, the Khumbu opening to the east, and the high peaks of both ranges in one view. It is a serious high-altitude crossing that takes preparation, fitness, and technical skill.

The Summit of Pachermo Peak at 6,187 Meters

Pachermo Peak was first climbed in 1955 and is one of the most sought-after technical trekking peaks on the Tashi Lapcha route. The north-west ridge route from high camp at 5,550 meters is mixed glacier, snow, and rock, with a knife-edge section on the upper ridge that is exposed on both sides. Summit day starts at 3am and takes ten to twelve hours in total. From the top you see Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang, Menlungtse, and the whole Rolwaling Himal you have been walking beneath for two weeks.

Tsho Rolpa Glacial Lake

Tsho Rolpa, at 4,580 meters, is one of the loveliest glacial lakes in Nepal and one of the most closely studied. Its turquoise water sits against the terminal moraine of the Trakarding Glacier, and on still mornings the peaks of the Rolwaling Himal are reflected on its surface. The lake has grown a great deal as the glacier retreats, and engineers have worked on the moraine dam to lower the risk of an outburst flood. You reach it through the upper Rolwaling, with the glacier above you and remote country on every side, a very different approach from the easier viewpoints elsewhere in Nepal.

Thame

Thame, at 3,820 meters in the Bhote Kosi valley, is a small village with a large place in the history of Himalayan mountaineering. Tenzing Norgay, who made the first ascent of Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953, grew up here. Apa Sherpa, who held the record for the most Everest summits with twenty-one, was born here. The Nyingmapa monastery above the village, founded in the sixteenth century, is one of the oldest in the Khumbu and still the religious center of the community. After the Tashi Lapcha and a 6,000-meter summit, it is a fitting village to walk into on the way down.