80 Day Mt. Everest Expedition

Mount Everest is still the ultimate mountaineering adventure. As the highest mountain in the world, Everest has immense appeal to mountaineers and fascination for non-climbers, but it also has tremendous allure because of its position in Nepal’s Khumbu, one of the world’s most beautiful mountain regions, and because of its remarkable climbing history. An ascent of Everest provides immense personal challenge, a rewarding cultural experience on approach, and a personal connection with a rich history of exploration.

An attempt on Mt Everest is also a major undertaking which requires significant climbing experience, solid alpine skills, good mountain judgment, excellent physical conditioning, and a huge amount of dedication and determination. If you see Everest as a definite or possible climbing goal for yourself, we can help you through all the stages of your preparation, from technical skills development to training in cold weather survival skills and the gaining of climbing experience at high altitude.

We climb Everest via the South Col route from Nepal in the spring season because this route and timing offer the absolute best chance of success. Routes from the north are technically more difficult, especially high on the mountain, and in the spring climbing season, we gain the dual advantages of getting progressively milder weather as we move closer to the summit and of climbing more stable slopes because the winter winds have scoured away much of the snow, significantly reducing the avalanche hazard.

By the time you arrive at the base camp at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, a route will already be established with ropes and ladders through the icefall to Camp 1, and our strong Sherpa team will be ferrying loads of equipment up the mountain. On your first acclimatization foray, you’ll spend several days at and above Camp 2. On your second foray, you’ll spend several days and nights at Camp 3, and on your summit attempt, we will climb through the established camps with lightweight packs to Camp 4 on the South Col. All climbers will be sleeping on bottled oxygen before setting out for the summit, carrying only very lightweight Russian oxygen bottles.

To gain a full understanding of your body’s response to altitude and to gain experience with Himalayan conditions, we recommend you join us for two other expeditions prior to Everest.