Join Us For a Trek to Mount Everest in 2004, 2005, and 2006

Everest is often spelled: "Chomolangma", "Sagarmatha", "Qomolungma", "Chomolungma", "Qomolongma", "Chomolongma", "Qomolangma".

Classic Trek to the World' s Most Famous Mountain, with a unique side-trip to stay with our climbing expedition in the spectacular and seldom visited Ama Dablam, Pumori, or Everest basecamps, and explore for several days.

1st to 18 October, 1st to 18 March, and 4 to 21 April, 2004, 2005, and 2006. 18 Days in Nepal

Price includes return round/trip domestic flights, all guides, porters, meals, cooks, tents, teahouses on the trek.

Would you like to be involved in charity/service "non-profit" work in the Khumbu valley? Please visit our site to learn more:

Follow the route first trekked by Tenzing and Hillary, when they made the first ascent of Everest in 1953.

** OUR TREK LEADERSHIP TEAM: Dan Mazur is our trek leader and organizer. He has led and organized more than 25 treks and expeditions to Everest, Ama Dablam, Pumori, Mount Kailash, Kilimanjaro, Mouunt Kenya, and many others. He has recently been running our Glacier Schools, working at his building design job, along with doing a bit of additional walking in the nearby hills. Dan has led the Everest trek 14 times, and will be accompanying the trek up to Ama Dablam basecamp. Our other trek leader Ms. Elselien te Hennepe has recently been working with kids who are challenged by their home situations. Elselien has trekked extensively in Nepal and Tibet, and will be taking over as leader during the walk from Ama Dablam basecamp to Everest basecamp, and back down.

Our recent April 2004 Everest trek hosted 5 trekkers, all of whom reached the basecamp safely and succesfully.

Interested? Please contact us: HimalayaTrek@earthlink.net

EVEREST BASECAMP TREK, 1st to 18 October, 1st to 18 March, and 4 to 21 April, 2004, 2005, and 2006. 18 Days in Nepal.

The Basecamp Trek will accompany the Ama Dablam Expedition, Pumori Expedition, and Everest Expedition to their Base Camp near the peak. A unique opportunity is available to be a part of the expedition, and walk to "high-points" near the basecamp, in only your trekking shoes, where normally only climbers are allowed to go. After spending a few days with the expedition, the trekking party will then leave and walk up to the ridge top known as "Kala Patar" for fabulous views of Everest. The trek passes through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery on earth and through interesting and friendly Sherpa villages. Its enjoyable walking the wide trails on this relaxing and energizing trek, where our cooks pamper you and our trusty yaks and porters carry all of your baggage, so you don't have to. Full Service Cost: $1450 dollars includes return round-trip domestic flights, cook, food, porters, guide, and everything for your trek, even a multi-day visit to basecamp and a fun and easy climb to 5545 metre Kala Patar.

* Our “full-service” trek (Cost: $1450, Ł850, €1250) includes:

1. Trek Leader: Daniel Mazur, trekking in the Khumbu valley since 1991, and Ms. Elselien te Hennepe, who has trekked extensively in Nepal;

2. Nepalese Sherpa-English speaking guides for the group (we are also able to provide Sherpa French and German speakers);

3. Return round-trip domestic flights for you and your baggage;

4. Yak and porter transport of all your equipment from Lukla to and from to your final destianation on the trek and back down;

5. Three meals per day during the trek, normally these may be cooked, but sometimes, during trekking, they may be a "packed-lunch".

6. All permit fees, trekking fees, and liaison officers;

7. Emergency equipment and supplies: medical oxygen, gamow bag, basecamp medical kit, high-altitude medical kits, etcetera;

8. All permit fees and liaison officers;

9. Sleeping arrangements will be in comfortable and roomy tents while camping, or in bunks in teahouses;

10. Emergency equipment and supplies: medical oxygen, gamow bag, basecamp medical kit, high-altitude medical kits, etcetera;

11. In addition to our top-quality high-altitude tents, we now provide an individual tent (1 tent per person) in basecamp.

What is not included?

A. Hotels and meals in Kathmandu are a minimal expense, with our chosen Nepa Hotel (http://www.hotelnepaintl.com/) costing $20 for a single and $30 for a double. Three large western-style meals a day might cost $20, including beverages, etcetera. There are numerous delicious restaurants and cafes within a few minutes walk of our hotel.

B. Your visa is best obtained at the Kathmandu airport upon arrival. In June of 2004 the cost was $30 for a 60 day visa.

C. Additional expenses like bottled or canned drinks on the trek, tips and gratuities, and expenses of a personal nature (ie: laundry or gift shopping) are not included.

Kids on their way to school, Namche Bazaar. D.L.Mazur. Classic Nepalese house in Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpa kingdom, by DL.Mazur. Everest from Kala Patar area. A picture you could take. D.L.Mazur

IS THIS TRIP FOR YOU

The Trek is suitable for anyone of reasonable fitness.

TREKKING STYLE

We will be totally self-sufficient. We will have our own cook who will prepare all our meals, and we will camp in tents through out the whole trek. Food on the trek consists of local fresh food. All your luggage will be carried by porters except for a small day pack. Each day's hiking is not too long (5-8 hours) allowing time to enjoy the scenery, take photos and meet the local people.

SOME FACTS ABOUT AMA DABLAM, PUMORI, EVEREST, AND KALA PATAR

Ama Dablam (7546 metres) is in the Khumbu valley, in the heart of the Sherpa area of Nepal, and is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. It is certainly one of the most photographed. The name Ama Dablam means Mother's Charm Box: the high hanging serac resembling the Dablam or Charm Box worn by Sherpa women. Our expedition will be climbing it from the South. Everest was first climbed in 1953 by Hillary and Tenzing, their Base Camp was at Gorak Shep which we will visit. Just above Gorak Shep is the small hill of Kala Patar (5545 metres). It was from here that Eric Shipton helped to choose the first ascent route on Mt Everest, which Tenzing and Hillary climbed in 1953. According to David Padwa, the peak was named by Mallory during the first Everest Reconnaissance.Mallory wanted to name a peak after his young daughter. In the Sherpa and Tibetan languages, "Pumo" means girl , and "Ri" means mountain. The name means "wife of Everest", and was supposedly given by Shipton in 1952. Pumori base camp sits in a sandy beach on a beautiful frozen lake at the base of the impressive South East face of Pumori and provides some of the most stunning views of the Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse massif you may ever see.

Itinerary

1. Arrive Kathmandu-Tribhuvan International Airport (2563 metres) on October 1 (or before), but not after that, as we need you to be in Kathmandu for several days to take care of formalities. Please be sure to let us know your exact flight itinerary details, as our staff will be meeting you at the airport and bringing you to our chosen Nepa Hotel (http://www.hotelnepaintl.com/) costing $20 for a single and $30 for a double. Three large western-style meals a day might cost $20, including beverages, etcetera. There are numerous delicious restaurants and cafes within a few minutes walk of our hotel.

"Streets" of Lukla (there are no cars here, everything must be flown or carried in for 6 days), and the Lukla airport before they paved the runway. Mazur photo.

2. Tour Kathmandu, a beautiful exotic Hindu and Buddhist city with an abundance of ancient temples. If this is your first visit, we strongly suggest you tour the temples, including the Monkey Temple, atop a small mountain above the Vishnu Mathi river and the Thamel neighborhood, the Pashupatinath Temple, where the cremations are conducted along the Bagmathi River, Boudhanath , an enourmous white massive stupa first built in 600 AD that you can walk around, absolving a lifetime's sin, and finish at the Kathmandu Durbar or King's Square, where the 400 year old Kathmandu capital was situated. We will take this day to finalize arrangements (such as issuing your trekking permit, etc), in between enjoying foo and drink at some of the many westernized restaurants in the Thamel neighborhood. Today is an ideal day to pick up extra bits of trekking kit from the plethora of mountain shops selling a suprising variety of good quality new and used mountain clothing, shoes, and nearly everything you might find in a trekking shop in your home country. The local "supermarkets" are great places to stock up on imported chocolates, sweets, and some surprisingly tasty local trekking foods like energy bars, nuts, granola bars, etcetera.

Steve from Yorkshire meets a few local kids along the Khumbu trail. Photo: Diane Taliafero from Montana. Yaks coming fairly close to the trinket tables along the trail below Khumjung, Mazur photo

3. In a small twin engine, twin pilot, 18 seat propeller driven "Twin-Otter", the trusty workhorse of the Khumbu-Everest trekking trade, we will fly for 40 minutes from Kathmandu to the airstrip at 2840 metre-high Lukla and stroll a couple of hours down and through the forested and farmed Dudh Khosi valley with a small clean river ripping through a narrow green rocky mountain studded valley to the picturesque small town of Phakding, where we camp in a field on the river bank at 2650 metres. Throughout the entire trek, every day, our bags will be carried by porters and yaks. Interacting with the people transporting our equipment, as well as their livestock, will be an interesting part of our trip, and allow us to set foot into the local culture.

The Himalayan Tahr can grow to a metre high and weigh upwards of 100 kg. http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/420.htm

4. We arise early and have a typically wholesome breakfast of omelettes, toast, porridge and hot drinks, then walk 4-7hours up through the fir trees and ever-rarer herds of Himalayan Tar, an endangered large wild mountain sheep. Topping the rim of the Sun Khosi Gorge, we slowly and steadily walk into the steep village of 3440 metre high Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpa region, which we will have time to explore. Its important to drink lots of liquids during today's trek, and you will certainly appreciate the stunning views of Numbur Peak (6959 metres) over several cups of tea, in our terraced campsite, in what used to be a potatoe field on the upper slopes of the town. In 30 minutes walk on a trail traversing the slope towards Everest, we will see our first views of the stunning Ama Dablam and perhaps Everest itself.

First views of Ama Dablam, Jay Ullin Photo.

5. We rest, acclimate, and relax, in order to soak in the comfortable exotic landscape of this Sherpa kingdom. One of the main features of spending a day in Namche is the opportunity to walk 15 minutes down the slope to partake in the tumult of this bustling sherpa and tourist village, especially the mainy tasty restaurants, tea-shops, pubs, billiard rooms, and internet cafes. All of the electricity here is locally made micro-hydro-electric power, and the telephone and internet connections are wireless/satellite. On our last visit we were astounded to find that our wireless laptop computer worked well here, and rumour has it that it will work at Everest Basecamp now!

Pemba Doma, first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Everest from Tibet, and Amy Barwick in front of Pemba's family lodge in Namche, the Thamserku View. http://www.Mountain-World.com

6. From Namche we drop down to the river and the famous tea-stop of Fungki Thangka and have a steep climb up through tree nurseries where you could help with the silvaculture and replanting of the Khumbu valley, which is starting to show signs of over-forestation by sherpas heating water for trekker's hot showers. If you are interested in helping, please check out our CHARITY NON PROFIT website.

View of deforestation from high above, looking down on Namche village. The closer you get to the village, the fewer trees there are. They were removed to burn as firewood to heat water for hot showers for trekkers. These are among the slopes we wish to replant, with your help. Photo by Rajen.

Throughout this part of the walk, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of endangered herds of Tahr. Finally cresting a rise in a forest of gorgeous Sub-alpine fir and Hemlock, wallking at the feet of the Khumbu giant peaks of Kusum Kanguru and Thamserku, we reach the Buddhist monastery at Thyangboche, which we can visit. The monastery burned in 1989, apparently due to an electric kettle being left on. Tragically the gompa's book collection was ravaged, and during the following years, groups of monks were seen spending hours each day writing with ball-point pens on stenographer's pads, trying to recall ancient texts from memory, which were burned when the fire tore through the library. Here we will find inspiring views of Mt. Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, and a very welcome tea and lunch stop.

We are currently working with the Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development in re-roofing the Pema Choling Buddhist women's convent, also known as the Deboche Nunnery, where 20 impoverished nuns live in a leaky old convent that many tourists walk past and never consider. The convent is the "sister-monastery" to the famous Thyangboche monastery on top of the hill between beautiful Deboche and Namche, along the Everest basecamp trek. The men who live in the monastery on top of the hill have brand new buildings with intact roofs, while the women live at the bottom of the slope in very simple (and leaky) circumstances. Perhaps you might like to get involved, by visiting our charity non-profit website.

Located in a forest inside Sagarmatha National park, where Mt. Everest stands, the Pema Choling convent desperately needs a new roof. It looks as if it has needed a new roof for quite some time. The nuns at the Deboche Nunnery lead a simple life. Photos by Rajen

We will then carry on for an hour through the tiny old-style hamlet of Deboche, in a high altitude birch forest, inside the inspiring Khumbu gorge, where there is one spectacular bridge crossing, for 1 hour and stay in Pangboche, 3900 metres, a religious village and the home of the Khumbu Lama, the most respected Buddhist leader in the upper Khumbu valley. This is a long day of trekking, but after all is said and done, you only gain 350 metres.

7. In October, we leave the Everest trek to climb up to Ama Dablam Base Camp at 4500 metres, where we will spend the remainder of the day resting and soaking up the views. As the sun hits the village of Pangboche, just before leaving, we head up to the house of the high priest and receive our "blessing" from the Lama, who ties sacred strings around the necks of anyone in attendance, chanting prayers over the prayer flags we will hang in basecamp and giving each of us an amulet or card or scarf to bring to the summit, for even more good luck. An "auspicious" start, indeed. Our March trek will visit our Pumori basecamp, at the beautiful frozen Lake Pumori.

Unpacking in Ama Dablam basecamp, trying the rucksack on for the first time since leaving Kathmandu. Morrison Photo

8. Rest day at basecamp. You are welcome to hang out and enjoy the good life, relaxing in your tent, eating large tasty meals prepared by our basecamp chefs, who can easily conjure up a nine course meal when they really get going. Or, if you prefer, there are gorgeous grassy slopes and plateaus to explore, and for the ambitious, you can don helmet and harness (we have plenty of extras), in order to participate in our "fixed rope training" on the good granite boulder outcroppings scatter amongst the grass tufts and juniper bushes on the south facing slopes only a few minutes above basecamp..

One interesting thing about basecamp life is being woken up every morning by these Himalayan Ular Snow Cocks. http://www.trekshare.com/index.cfm?p1=121&tripid=5038&page=4

9. Walking up pleasant grassy trails, through steeper gravelly slopes to the "plateau" where Ama Dablam's 5350 metre ABC-Advanced Base Camp lies at the foot of the mountain's south face and surrounded by the Mingbo range, and finally picking your way through a grand sloping field of large-sized-boulders and moderately angled easy scrambling granite slabs to camp 1 at 5700 metres.

ABC at 5350 metres, and one of the views from ABC, the Mingbo La, and part of the Malan Phulan massif. Zuber photos

10. We enjoy a bit of a lie in, then a filling breakfast and make a leisurely walk downhill to rejoin the Everest trek and walk to Pheriche, the last permanent Sherpa settlement. Here we have spectacular views of Nuptse,Lobuche, Cholatse, Ama Dablam and many others. Pheriche, at 4250 metres, is the site of the Himalayan Rescue Association, where we can visit the famous high altitude clinic.

Sturdy and hardworking local gentleman carrying beer to sell to tourists in the teahouses.

11. Hiking across grassy hills, up the Dugla Hill and through enormous boulders brings us to 4930 metre Lobuche, with stunning views of Lobuche peak and Cholatse. Along the way we cross over the Dugla Hill where we are confronted by a knoll studded with chortens, monuments to fallen climbers and Sherpas who have died on Mt. Everest over the years. You will probably recognize several of the names on the memorials.

12. A short day up the Khumbu glacier takes us to the rocky outpost of Gorak Shep, our highest camp at 5100m. In March, our trekkers will carry on with the expedition to Pumori basecamp at 5300 metres. In April, our trek team will go right into Everest basecamp, also at 5300 metres, and stay there with our climbing Expedition.The nights can be very chilly up here, so you will enjoy bundling up in your warm, fleece, pile, or duvet/down jacket, and wearing your wooly hat, especially in the evening. The views are spectacular, and you will be surrounded by the dragons teeth of the highest massif in the world: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Pumori, and Lingtren.

13. With an early start we trek to the top of Kala Patar (5545 metres) to see the famous views of Everest. Here is where Shipton stood in 1952, to plan the successful ascent of Everest. This afternoon, we shall walk back down to Pheriche.

14. We now walk back down the valley, retracing our steps to Namche.

15. Walking down from Namche to Lukla

16. Return flight to Kathmandu

17. Extra Day of Rest and Celebration in Kathmandu. Do take a taxi out to Bhaktapur if you wish to visit an impressive temple city.

18. Flight Home. Good Bye everyone, it was nice meeting you!

Rhododendron Tree near Monjo. Trekking in the Khumbu, on the way down to Lukla. D.L.Mazur

Interested? Please contact us: HimalayaTrek@earthlink.net