Guided Climbing and Ascent of Ama Dablam

Flight Information

The total num­ber of days for your trip includes all trav­el to and from your des­ti­na­tion, with some excep­tions. Dates list­ed on the web­site start with your depar­ture date from the US and include the day you arrive home. 

For this trip you will need to arrive in Kath­man­du, Nepal on Day 3 of the itin­er­ary. You will cross the date line in mid-flight to Asia, thus los­ing a day. If you are trav­el­ing from out­side the US. your itin­er­ary may require less time to reach Kath­man­du, so all that is required is that you arrive on Day 3 of the itin­er­ary, where Moun­tain Mad­ness ser­vices begin. If you arrive ear­ly, we can assist with extra hotel arrange­ments and activ­i­ties. Oth­er­wise, you can arrive at any time on Day 3. You will be met at the air­port by a Moun­tain Mad­ness rep­re­sen­ta­tive and trans­ferred to your hotel. 

Day 1-2

TRAV­EL

Trav­el to Nepal takes sev­er­al days com­ing from the US In order to pro­vide you with the exact num­ber of days need­ed for this excur­sion, we have includ­ed trav­el time in the itin­er­ary. You will depart from the US on Day 1 and, by cross­ing the inter­na­tion­al date line, arrive in Kath­man­du on Day 3, where Moun­tain Mad­ness ser­vices begin. If you are trav­eling from some­where oth­er than the US, trav­el time may vary, how­ev­er Moun­tain Mad­ness ser­vices still begin on Day 3.

Please call to con­firm with our office before book­ing your flights.
 

Day 3

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

Arrive in Kath­man­du on Day 3, where a Moun­tain Mad­ness guide meets you. We stay at the famous 5‑Star Yak-n-Yeti Hotel. Great food from all over the world, fab­u­lous shop­ping, and Dur­bar Square with its numer­ous tem­ples and mar­kets are nearby.

Day 4

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

While we wrap up last minute paper­work with the Nepal gov­ern­ment, you will have a casu­al day for shop­ping, vis­it­ing the palaces, Dur­bar Square, Hin­du tem­ples and shrines, Bud­dhist stu­pas, or just relax­ing at the hotel. A favorite des­ti­na­tion is the Mon­key Tem­ple, a Bud­dhist tem­ple sit­u­at­ed on a small hill that offers panoram­ic views of the city. Or you can join the thou­sands of Hin­dus who ven­ture to the Pashu­pati­nath tem­ple, one of the most famous Hin­du tem­ples in Nepal and the most famous Shi­va tem­ple in Asia.

Day 5

PHAK­ING

Ele­va­tion: 9,350 ft / 2652 m

We fly on a twin-engine Otter to the Himalayan foothills where we will begin our trek into the Khum­bu region. The views from the plane are amaz­ing, pro­vid­ing dra­mat­ic views of ter­raced hills and the dis­tant Himalayan giants. After land­ing in the vil­lage of Luk­la (9,350 feet) we will meet the rest of our staff and porters and trek for about two and a half hours to Phakding.

Day 6

NAM­CHE BAZAAR

Ele­va­tion: 11,300 ft / 3444 m

We con­tin­ue trekking along the banks of the Dudh Kosi, cross­ing this majes­tic riv­er many times on excit­ing sus­pen­sion bridges laden with prayer flags. After enter­ing Sagar­matha Nation­al Park, the trail climbs steeply with breath­tak­ing views to Nam­che Bazaar the gate­way to the Khum­bu region.

Day 7

NAM­CHE BAZAAR

Ele­va­tion: 11,300 ft / 3444 m

Today is a rest and acclima­ti­za­tion day in Nam­che Bazaar. Nam­che is a col­or­ful vil­lage with many won­der­ful and inter­est­ing shops and ven­dors, fab­u­lous food, and stun­ning views of the sur­round­ing moun­tains. An ear­ly hike above town, before the clouds move in, will reward climbers with a spec­tac­u­lar Himalayan sun­rise and views of Mt. Ever­est, Lhotse (the 4th high­est peak in the world), and the beau­ti­ful Ama Dablam. On the way down, we can vis­it the Sher­pa Muse­um that hous­es an exhib­it on tra­di­tion­al Sher­pa lifestyle and a fab­u­lous pho­tog­ra­phy dis­play by a local Nepalese nat­u­ral­ist. One room high­lights the Sher­pa tra­di­tions and in anoth­er, Sher­pa high alti­tude climbers are presented.

Day 8

THYANG­BOCHE

Ele­va­tion: 12,887 ft / 3928 m

The trek con­tin­ues along the rush­ing glacial waters of the Dudh Kosi with mag­nif­i­cent views of the moun­tains. We will spend the night next to the Thyang­boche monastery, the spir­i­tu­al cen­ter of the Khum­bu region. Inside the monastery are incred­i­bly ornate wall hang­ings, a 20-foot sculp­ture of Bud­dha, and the musi­cal instru­ments and robes of the Lamas. If our group is lucky, we will see the Lama per­form a cer­e­mo­ny and hear the mys­ti­cal chant­i­ng and music.

Day 9

DING­BOCHE

Ele­va­tion: 14,469 ft / 4410 m 
 

From Teng­boche the trail drops to Debuche, cross­es a new sus­pen­sion bridge on the Imja Kho­la, and climbs to Pang­boche amongst thou­sands of carved and paint­ed mani stones. Our uphill trek con­tin­ues, tak­ing us to the quaint tra­di­tion­al Sher­pa vil­lage of Ding­boche with its exquis­ite views of Lhotse, Island Peak, and Ama Dablam.
 

Day 10

DING­BOCHE

Ele­va­tion: 14,469 ft / 4410 m

Anoth­er acclima­ti­za­tion day. We will take a light acclima­ti­za­tion hike up the val­ley for a wider vari­ety of pho­tos of the val­ley and moun­tains of the Khum­bu region. 

Day 11

LOBUCHE

Ele­va­tion: 16,109 ft / 4910 m 
 

Today’s trail climbs along an alpine val­ley with sum­mer graz­ing huts and stun­ning views of Taboche and oth­er moun­tains. It pass­es by stone memo­ri­als for climbers who have per­ished on near­by sum­mits (includ­ing Scott Fischer’s memo­r­i­al) and con­tin­ues along the lat­er­al moraine of the Khum­bu Glac­i­er to Lobuche.

Day 12

LOBUCHE HIGH CAMP

Ele­va­tion: 17,929 ft / 5465 m 

Day 13

LOBUCHE SUM­MIT

Ele­va­tion: 20,075 ft / 6119 m 

Day 14

PANG­BOCHE

Ele­va­tion: 13,074 ft / 3985 m 

Day 15

AMA DABLAM BASE CAMP

Ele­va­tion: 15,000 ft / 4572 m

The uphill trek along the riv­er allows for breath­tak­ing pho­tos of Ama Dablam that tow­ers omi­nous­ly above us, and the South­west Ridge comes into clear view! Just after the vil­lage of Pang­bouche we descend down to the Dudh Kosi and cross a small bridge and then fol­low the trail as it climbs up to Ama Dablam Base Camp (15,000 feet). Our Sher­pas, porters and cooks will estab­lish base camp and we will be greet­ed with warm smiles, hot tea and a deli­cious lunch. The rest of the after­noon can be spent relax­ing in the sun watch­ing climbers high on the moun­tain as they descend the upper snow face of the Dablam Glacier. 

Day 16 - 25

ASCEND AMA DABLAM

Ele­va­tion: 22,350 ft / 6812 m

Itin­er­ary details between Base Camp to Sum­mit and return to Base Camp:

Climb to Camp One Ama Dablam

Alti­tudes: Ama Dablam Base Camp 15,016’; Camp One Ama Dablam 18,900’ Ver­ti­cal Ascent: 4,170’ Ver­ti­cal Descent: 211’ Sleep­ing Alti­tude Change: 3,884’ Dis­tance: 2.7mi. Climb­ing time: 5.4hrs. Accom­mo­da­tions: Tents

Camp One to Camp 2 Ama Dablam

Alti­tudes: Camp One Ama Dablam 18,900’; Camp 2. Ama Dablam 20,003’ Ver­ti­cal Ascents: 1,025’ Ver­ti­cal Descent: 58’ Sleep­ing Alti­tude Change: 1,103’ Dis­tance: 2,404’ Climb­ing time: 2hrs but depend­ing on con­di­tions could eas­i­ly be 4 hrs. Accom­mo­da­tions: Tents

Sum­mit Day and Return to Camp 2

Alti­tudes: Camp 2. Ama Dablam 20,003’; Ama Dablam Sum­mit 22,243’ Ver­ti­cal Ascent: 2,248’ Ver­ti­cal Descent: 2,240’ Dis­tance: 3,873’ Climb­ing time: Ascent 4.5 hrs. Descent 3.5hrs. But depend­ing on con­di­tions could eas­i­ly be 3hrs. longer. Be ready for a long day! Accom­mo­da­tions: Tents

Camp 2 Ama Dablam to Base Camp

Alti­tudes: Camp 2. Ama Dablam 20,003’; Ama Bablam BC 15,016’ Ver­ti­cal Ascent: 180’ Ver­ti­cal Descent: 5,226’ Sleep­ing Alti­tude Change:,987’ Dis­tance: 3.1mi. Climb­ing time: 6hrs. Accom­mo­da­tions: Tent

Day 26

PANG­BOCHE

13,074 ft / 3985 m
 

Trek down­hill to vil­lage of Pang­boche. Evening at tea house. 

Day 27

NAM­CHE BAZAAR

Ele­va­tion: 11,300 ft / 3444 m
 

From Pang­boche we descend to Nam­che Bazaar. If we are lucky, it will be mar­ket time in Nam­che. Regard­less, there is always fab­u­lous food to be found, includ­ing real espres­so, yak steaks and choco­late cake with frost­ing! This mar­ket is where low­land porters bear­ing sup­plies meet the high­land Sher­pas & Tibetan peo­ple who have jour­neyed over high pass­es from many miles away to trade food and sup­plies for their home or village. 

Day 28

LUK­LA

Ele­va­tion: 9,318 ft / 2840 m
 

Our last day on the trail, we hike from Nam­che to Luk­la, cross­ing eleven sus­pen­sion bridges and reen­ter­ing the fer­tile val­leys of the low­er Dudh Kosi. We overnight in Luk­la.
 

Day 29

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

The morn­ing flight back to Kath­man­du is scenic and smooth as we say farewell to the mountains.

Day 30

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

The day is open and pro­vides a chance to get out and watch the peo­ple of Kath­man­du rise in prayer at Pashu­pati­nath along the banks of the holy riv­er Bag­mati with burn­ing ghats sim­i­lar to the Ganges in India. You may wish to vis­it the Bud­dhist Tem­ple of Swayamb­hu­nath or explore the tem­ples in the city of Patan, just south of Kath­man­du. This is also a great day to shop for a Tibetan rug or vis­it the book­stores of Thamel. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Day 31 - 32

FLY HOME

Depart Kath­man­du and fly home.

Note on Itin­er­ary: Although we do our very best to fol­low the sched­ule list­ed, this itin­er­ary is sub­ject to change due to inclement weath­er, unsafe route con­di­tions, or oth­er rea­sons beyond our con­trol and in the guide’s best judgement.