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Khumbu Climber

Altitude 6,279m/20,601ft » Duration 28 Days » Grade 3B

The original action-packed climbing adventure in the shadow of Everest

Jagged Globe in Nepal

Our aim is to provide you with a safe, enjoyable and successful expedition to Nepal. This remarkable Himalayan country is the centrepiece of our worldwide activities and we provide all of our climbers with a smooth and efficient service to maximise both your enjoyment and your chances of a successful climb. The benefits of travelling with us on our Khumbu Climber expedition are:

Additional benefits include:

We are here to make your climb a great and memorable experience, so why not join us for your Himalayan adventure!

Introduction

Jagged Globe's Khumbu Climber is a highly active expedition climbing three major peaks in the Everest Region. It provides an opportunity to climb in the shadow of the world's highest mountains while taking in one of the most famous treks in the Himalaya as part of a superb circuit. Since we first designed this expedition in 1994, we have organised over 40 trips to these three peaks. Over time, we have refined our itinerary to achieve what we think is the optimum balance between sufficient climbing time and overall trip duration.

In brief, we trek up the Everest trail, through the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar, to Pokalde base camp in a secluded valley to the north of Ama Dablam. Here we acclimatise and refresh our mountaineering techniques, before climbing Pokalde, an interesting scrambling route on rock.

After Pokalde, we trek up the Imja Valley to climb Island Peak from a high camp. Island Peak is a justifiably popular climb, with scrambling in the lower section to reach the glacier. From the glacier, a bergshrund is crossed and a steep slope climbed to a col on the summit ridge. This is followed in an exposed position to the airy summit. There are magnificent views of the Khumbu Valley to the south, the imposing South Face of Lhotse is just to the north and looking eastwards we can see Baruntse and Makalu.

From Island Peak, we retrace our steps back down the Imja Valley to Dingboche, turn west towards Dugla and camp in a delightful grassy base camp opposite the impressive North Faces of Cholatse and Taweche. From here we make an ascent of Lobuje East from a high camp. The mountain is the most technically difficult of the three ascents, climbing a rocky rampline to an undulating summit ridge and the 'false' east summit. The views from the top towards Everest are particularly fine.

Having completed the three main climbs, we cross the glaciated Cho La (5,420m) to reach the lakes at Gokyo, where we walk up Gokyo Ri (5,300m) for spectacular views of the Everest horseshoe. Finally, we re-join the Khumbu Valley and trek back to Lukla for a night of celebrations with our Sherpa team, cook staff and porters.

The Climbs

The Jagged Globe Khumbu Climber expedition is designed to give you time to acclimatise adequately and climb each of the three main objectives. The climbs logically follow on from one another in terms of altitude and technical difficulty, with Pokalde being the most straightforward and Lobuje East the most difficult. By climbing them in this order, you can steadily build your confidence and fitness and have a greater chance of success on all three peaks. It is also a better acclimatisation profile to trek up the Khumbu Valley to Pokalde, rather than visit Gokyo at the start of the expedition. Additionally, it is easier to manage any altitude problems or illness that team members might suffer in the early stages of the expedition in the relative comforts of the Khumbu Valley, rather than on the way up to Gokyo. It's for these reasons that our expedition follows an anti-clockwise route.

Our three main climbing objectives are -

Pokalde - 5,806m (Alpine Grade AD)
Pokalde involves mostly mixed terrain of rock and snow, with a straightforward snow climb as far as the summit rocks. An awkward section right at the top involves some scrambling.

Island Peak (Imja Tse) - 6,189m (Alpine Grade PD/AD)
We climb the South Ridge, which involves grade 1 scrambling up a gully and easy rock to a glacier. We cross this, negotiating some crevasses to a final steep (40°) snow slope (100m) leading to the summit ridge. This can be corniced and leads in about three rope lengths to the summit. There are superb views of the south face of Lhotse, Baruntse and Ama Dablam.

Lobuje East - 6,119m (Alpine Grade AD)
From a high camp, we climb the South Ridge. This a long snow climb which twists and turns its way up to the eastern summit. There are excellent views of Mount Everest from the top.

Expedition Itinerary

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Day 1:Fly London to Kathmandu
We depart London on an evening flight from London Heathrow to Kathmandu.
Day 2:Arrive Kathmandu
We are taken to the Summit Hotel, a delightful garden hotel situated away from the bustle of the city centre. The Summit Hotel has extensive gardens, a swimming pool and an atmosphere of quiet, restful charm. It is a Dutch owned, British managed establishment with a friendly and helpful Nepalese staff. Team members will be accommodated on a twin share basis in en-suite rooms. Single rooms are available if you prefer, for which a supplement is payable.
Day 3:Fly to Lukla
We are taken to the airport for one of the great flights of the Himalaya. If the sky is clear during our flight, we get our first views of Everest and the region in which we will be climbing. The Twin-Otter aircraft takes us to the hillside village of Lukla, which is the start of our trek. In Lukla, we meet our camp staff and porters and set off straight away for Phakding on the banks of the Dudh Kosi River, which drains the whole of the Khumbu. Lukla is at an altitude of 3,000m and everyone will feel the tiring effect of the altitude. It is just as well that the first day's trekking is mostly downhill!
Day 4:Trek to Namche Bazaar
We continue up the banks of the Dudh Kosi River, crossing it twice by small suspension bridges, before reaching the village of Monjo, which is at the entrance to the Khumbu National Park. We then cross the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and Bhote Kosi rivers on a high suspension bridge and climb steeply for about two hours to Namche Bazaar. This is a prosperous trading town and is the capital of the Khumbu Region. Many Tibetans cross the nearby border to trade their wares and the local market is a fascinating spectacle. This is a good place to buy genuine Tibetan artefacts. Just across the valley to the east stand the peaks of Thamserku and Kangtega, both very impressive mountains.
Day 5:Rest day and acclimatisation in Namche Bazaar
We spend a day in Namche Bazaar, resting and allowing our bodies to become more acclimatised to the altitude of 3,450m. Team members may like to take a slow walk up to the Everest View Hotel (c3,900m), which provides awesome views of Ama Dablam, Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse.
Day 6:Trek to Deboche
From Namche, the well-worn Everest trail contours around the side of the valley high above the Dudh Kosi. Passing by several villages and numerous tea shops, we will cross the Dudh Kosi river and make a steep climb to Thyangboche, home of an impressive and recently rebuilt monastery. We have plenty of time to look around Thyangboche and have a cake at the bakery before dropping down to the river and the village of Deboche (3,700m) a little further along the trail.
Day 7:Trek to Dingboche
Shaded by rhododendron trees, the path leads gradually down to the river once again and is crossed by another airy suspension bridge. An hour's walking from here brings us to Pangboche, an excellent viewpoint for Ama Dablam. Contouring up the valley side we re-cross the river to reach Dingboche at the entrance to the Imja Valley.
Day 8:Rest and acclimatisation in Dingboche
This is an important day as our bodies become accustomed to the ever-increasing altitude. The day can be spent relaxing and enjoying the delights of this charming village or we may walk across to Pheriche to visit the local hospital for their daily talk about altitude sickness.
Day 9:Trek to Pokalde Base Camp
We walk up the Imja Valley for about 1½ hours before turning left to follow the stream draining the south side of Pokalde and Kongma Tse. This leads to a secluded cirque where we camp beside a cluster of lakes.
Day 10-11:Ascent of Pokalde (5,806m)
On our first day in Base Camp, we will refresh some climbing techniques, in particular practicing fixed rope technique, while we acclimatise to the altitude. As soon as everyone is feeling ready, we will climb Pokalde. This is an enjoyable route offering superb scenery down the Khumbu Valley. The climb is relatively easy with a scramble to the rocky summit, preparing us well for Island Peak and Lobuje.
Day 12:Trek to Island Peak Base Camp
We descend due south to re-join the Imja Valley and the huge cirque containing the south face of Lhotse, Baruntse and the north side of Ama Dablam. The valley also contains our next objective, Island Peak. Passing a cluster of teahouses at Chukhung, we continue to our base camp by a stream near the snout of the Imja Glacier. Altitude: 5,000m. Alternatively, we may make base camp a little further on in a site nestled between the glacier's moraine and the lower slopes of the mountain.
Day 13:Ascend to Island Peak High Camp
Today we move to a high camp from where we climb the mountain. The path leads quite steeply up beyond base camp for several hundred metres before striking off left up the hillside. Initially sandy, the path soon turns to grass before becoming boulder strewn. As we climb the hill, the slope narrows and the path enters a steep rock gully. We camp just below the gully on the left on rock platforms.
Day 14:Ascent of Island Peak (6,189m)
Our first task early in the morning, is to climb the rock gully. This involves grade 1 scrambling by head torch, with several short rock steps to climb before we emerge on the right side of the gully. The route then follows a rocky ridgeline, which leads to an exhilarating and exposed traverse onto the snout of the summit glacier. We need to rope up for the glacier as it contains several crevasses but it leads without difficulty, to the bergshrund and a 350ft/100m snow and ice slope on which the Sherpas fix a rope. From the top of this slope, it is about three rope lengths along a sharp summit ridge to the top. After enjoying the summit views we descend all the way to our base camp.
Day 15:Spare day in case of bad weather
Day 16:Descend to Dingboche
In the morning, we retrace our steps back down the Imja valley to Dingboche, where we have the afternoon to relax. Alternatively, if we have climbed Island Peak on day 14, we may continue to Lobuje today.
Day 17:Trek to Lobuje Base Camp
We re-join the Everest trail and trek up a broad valley beyond Pheriche towards the small hamlet of Dugla. The views of the North Face of Taweche are inspiring, as is the sight of our next objective straight ahead of us - the South Ridge of Lobuje East. From Dugla we split off from the main Everest trail and contour a mountain side for about two hours to reach a base camp in a pleasant, secluded valley right below the mountain. This is a fabulous spot and we'll spend the afternoon organising our gear again for tomorrow's move to high camp.
Day 18:Climb to High Camp
Today we slowly climb up to a high camp (5,300m), where the rock ridge and the glacier meet. It's a relatively short day, but puts us in a good position for tackling the summit.
Day 19:Ascent of Lobuje East (6,119m)
From high camp the route follows rocky slabs to access the glacier. Once on snow, we climb a long undulating snow arete to the summit ridge. This can be quite heavily crevassed and some interesting climbing may be required to by-pass the crevasses. Although long, the ridge leads without undue difficulty to what is called, by most parties, the summit of Lobuje East (c6000m). The true summit is considerably further along the ridge and involves some complicated and technical climbing and has only been climbed a few times. The summit gives fantastic views over the whole of the Khumbu and in particular, of Everest itself. We descend by the same route and make the short walk to Dzongla, where we camp beside a couple of lodges. The evening views across to Ama Dablam can be beautiful from here and overall, Dugla feels quite remote.
Day 20:Spare day in case of bad weather
Day 21:Cross the Cho La (5,420m)
The high pass of the Cho La gives access to the Gokyo Valley to the west of the Khumbu Valley. This is a big day. The pass is not difficult but a rope is sometimes required to descend the icefall on the far side. However, in normal conditions, the route is straightforward, with no technical problems. From the north the route weaves around rock shelves to gain a col. From here it's a fairly flat walk across the glacier. On the far side of the pass, there is a long descent on rocky ground, before reaching a better path and descent down the valley into Dragnag, where we have lunch. The trail from Dragnag heads across the lunar landscape of ice and moraine of the Ngozumpa Glacier. On the far side of the glacier we turn north, passing the second and third lakes to reach Gokyo Resort (9 hours).
Day 22:Gokyo Ri (5,300m)
It is well worth the effort to make an early start for the 3-hour ascent to the summit of Gokyo Ri, a small hill which rises immediately to the north of the third lake. This day also increases the likelihood of us having clear views of the west ridge and south-west face of Everest, beautifully framed by Changtse and Nuptse. Makalu rises further to the east, and in the foreground to the north lies the chaotic moraines of the Ngozumpa Glacier.
Day 23:Phortse Tenga
Today we walk down the trail back towards the main Khumbu Valley and have lunch at the Fanga View Point. After contouring the valley side for most of the day, we eventually descend steeply into rhododendron forests and down to the river at Phortse Tenga (5 hours).
Day 24:Trek to Monjo
With a reasonably early start, we will reach Namche Bazaar for an early lunch. At first the trail climbs steeply out of the valley floor for an hour, providing superb views across to Phortse, with Ama Dablam in the middle distance. If it's a clear morning, the light striking Phortse's terraced fields can be stunning. A big Chorten marks the high point on the trail, which then descends at a pleasant gradient to eventually meet the main Everest trail, taking us back into Namche Bazaar in about 3 hours. We should have a few hours to spend in Namche, which is enough time to shop and relax in the bakery with a coffee and a cake, or even to check the Internet, before walking for a couple more hours to Monjo. A steep descent for 600m down Namche Hill leads to the suspension bridge crossing the Dudh Kosi River and the small village of Monjo (2,835m). Monjo a quieter place to stay than Namche and it also means our porters have a less strenuous walk back to Lukla tomorrow.
Day 25:Trek to Lukla
The trail now flattens out and we cross the river twice more before a rising traverse up the hill-side, past numerous tea-houses to Lukla. Our last day on the trail will be a real joy as at lower altitudes, with over three weeks behind us, and nothing left to prove, we can soak up the atmosphere in each of the villages we amble through. All excess energy is guaranteed to be exhausted at our party this evening with our Nepalese crew.
Day 26:Fly Lukla to Kathmandu
An early morning flight to Kathmandu, freshen up and then time for relaxing in the gardens of the Summit Hotel, or a trip into town.
Day 27:At leisure in Kathmandu
Today, we have another opportunity to visit the bazaars and to shop for mementoes of our visit. In the evening, we can choose from a host of venues, ranging from the famous KC's, the Nepali Kitchen or even the Summit Hotel itself, in which to celebrate the success of our expedition in fine style.
Day 28:Fly Kathmandu to London
Our scheduled flight back to the UK arrives in London Heathrow early evening.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Every effort will be made to keep to the above itinerary, but as this is Adventure Travel in a remote mountain region, we cannot guarantee it. Weather conditions, road conditions, vehicle breakdowns and the health of climbers can all contribute to changes. The Expedition Leader and our local agent will try to ensure that the trip runs according to plan, but an easy going nature will be an asset!

Acclimatisation

Approximate altitude profile of Khumbu Climber: Khumbu Climber altitude profile, 15 kb
Please note: This profile does not represent the gradient of the mountains.

Leadership

Our expeditions are led by very experienced mountain leaders. In selecting suitable leaders, our prime concern is that they have an excellent personal track-record of climbing at high altitudes...read more about leaders.

Team Composition

The expedition is led by an experienced and suitably qualified Jagged Globe leader with carefully selected English speaking climbing Sherpas, Cook Staff and porters.

There are a maximum of 9 places available on each expedition

Experience Required

Khumbu Climber is graded 3B.

Khumbu Climber covers a lot of ground and could be considered by fit climbers with experience of Alpine routes of PD/AD or Scottish Winter Climbs of Grade II and III. Climbers always have the option of missing out one or two of the climbs if they prefer, but the trip should appeal to those who wish to achieve as much as possible in 28 days.

Our Scottish Winter Courses and our Alpine Courses provide good skills preparation for an expedition.

Porter Protection

Any trek or expedition to Nepal relies on the hard work of local porters. It is their carrying of our supplies and baggage that makes a journey into the mountains possible. Jagged Globe is therefore careful to ensure that they are well treated, not exploited and have good protection from the elements. We work closely with our Nepal based partner, Kit Spencer to provide shelter, clothing and footwear that match the severity of the environment. Porters who become sick are treated with the same care and attention as team members, and we have used helicopters, at our expense, to rescue porters from hazardous situations.

Jagged Globe supports the work of the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG), and provides help and advice to those organisations to improve the working conditions of the porters on whom we depend. All trekkers are asked to provide feedback on porters' working conditions in post-trip questionnaires.

Equipment

Find out about our comprehensive Equipment Hire Service.

To join the Khumbu Climber expedition you need the following specialist equipment:

A complete climbing equipment and clothing list is included in the expedition dossier, which is sent to you on booking.

What the price includes

What the price does not include

Tailor-made option

We can organise this expedition on a 'tailor-made' private basis for groups of friends, families, clubs, charities or any other group. Depending on your mountaineering experience, you may want a Jagged Globe leader or go 'self-led' with the assistance of local guides. The cost of going private can be surprisingly reasonable, particularly if you take the self-led option. Please contact us to discuss the itinerary and your preferred dates. We will then send you a quote, with no obligation.

Additional Information

If you wish to discuss any aspect of the expedition or your suitability for it, please contact us by telephone:

Alternatively, you can contact us by email via the Contact Page on the website.

Booking

If you would like to book a place on this expedition, you can do so on our secure on-line booking facility, on our website. The £300 deposit for this expedition will secure you a place on your chosen departure. You will receive an automatic email confirmation, followed by a written confirmation of booking, climbing questionnaire and Expedition Dossier. Alternatively, you can book over the telephone or by sending in a booking form by post. Book Now!