Trip Reports
The team summited Island Peak (Ijma Tse, 20,305 ft) today! It was a big day and they got up long before the sunrise to begin the climb. It looks like they had a beautiful day, after some pretty rough weather for most of the trek, so it got nice when they needed it! They descended…
Mountain Trip guide Jacob Schmitz sent in an update on the Island Peak expedition, who has split from the Everest Base Camp trekkers to head on to their primary goal, summiting Island Peak. Jacob emailed: “We woke up at 4am and made it to the summit of Kalapattar 18,900′. Everyone did good. We got an…
They trekked up to Everest Base Camp (EBC) today from the village of Gorak Shep. Gorak Shep is the highest village on the trek at 16,950 ft just off of the Khumbu Glacier. The temperatures drop the higher they get, and nights can definitely be chilly up high in the Himalayas. It’s a 2-3 hour…
Mountain Trip guide Jacob Schmitz called in on behalf of the Everest Base Camp and Island Peak expedition, who left Deboche early this morning (Friday, Sept. 23) headed for the high village of Dingboche. Jacob reported that the team is all in good health and spirits, and that the trek has gone very well so…
It’s continued to be a bit rainy for the team, but they were excited to head up the valley beyond Namche today and up to the beautiful Tenboche Monastery. This is an important Tibetan Budhhist monastery for the Sherpa people and and an iconic location in the Khumbu valley. After visiting the monastery, the team…
The team is taking a scheduled acclimatization/rest day in Namche today. Namche sits on a hillside at 11,200 ft and is the trading center of the upper Khumbu region. It is a good altitude to spend an extra day on the ascent to allow a bit of acclimatization, and it is a bustling village with…
Mountain Trip guide Jacob Schmitz called in with an update on the Everest Base Camp and Island Peak Trekking expedition, who were all successfully able to fly into Lukla early this morning (Monday, 9/19) after several days of weather delay. Half of the team flew in via helicopter, and the rest arrived on a fixed-wing…
Well, they are off to a slow start on the trek to Everest Basecamp and Island Peak climb. The flights from Kathmandu to Lukla have been delayed, and cancelled for the second day in a row now as bad weather has prevented the regularly scheduled flights from occurring. This afternoon they even got into the…
Sole and Dave are back in Nairobi after a great trip and successful summit of Mount Kenya! They were able to do a bit of trekking and sightseeing on the way back down from the mountain, and are happy to be back in the land of hot showers and hotels. Congratulations to Sole and Dave…
The Island Peak and Base Camp trek team had a 5 a.m. wake-up call this morning and are set to fly from Kathmandu to the small, high-mountain airport in Lukla. Flying into Lukla, situated in the rugged Himalaya at 9,383′, is an experience in itself as they land on the hillside runway in the…