Trek & Stay at Everest Base Camp With Summiteers

You will be welcomed into an actual Everest climbing team and trek alongside mountaineers who are attempting to scale the world’s largest peak! Apart from a terrific opportunity to chat with mountaineers, you’ll be invited to stay in a tent inside the Everest Base Camp. This is something that you won’t see most guided treks offering. Instead of just tagging the “trekkers rock” on the outskirts of camp and returning down into the valley, you’ll stay in the Everest Base Camp for two days (or even longer, if you’d like!).

Everything on this trip is held to the highest standard, and so is food! You’ll eat in the finest teahouses and once you reach the base camp, you can expect delicious dishes from a top-notch cook.

What you get on this adventure:

• • An experienced guide with expansive knowledge of the area
  • 20-day Everest Base Camp Trek (18-day trek + 2 contingency days)
  • World-class, highly-trained Sherpa team
  • All meals on the trek
  • Accommodation for the duration of your tour (double occupancy)
    • Yak and Yeti hotel in Kathmandu
    • The best teahouses available on the trek
    • Tent in the Everest Base Camp
  • All trekking permits
  • Porters (carrying your baggage)
  • Kathmandu-Lukla-Kathmandu flight tickets

What’s not included:

• • International flights to Kathmandu, Nepal 
  • Airport arrival or departure taxes
  • Travel expenses (Visa, passport, reciprocity fee, vaccination charges)
  • Optional activities not included in the itinerary or additional days before or after the tour
  • Personal trekking equipment
  • Personal expenses — e.g. non-team meals in Kathmandu, personal snacks, alcoholic beverages, laundry service, medical expenses, showers in teahouses
  • Water on the trek — possible to buy directly from stores along the route or teahouses
  • Satellite telephone air charges and 3rd party base camp Wi-Fi
  • Sherpa tip pool ($400 for trekkers)
  • Guide gratuities 
  • Required travel insurance policy (for trip cancellation, interruption, rescue & evacuation, medical treatment, repatriation, etc.)

Optional add-ons:

• • Extra nights at Everest Base Camp
  • Gokyo Lakes extension
  • Helicopter descent from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu
  • Helicopter descent from Everest Base Camp to Lukla (and then catch the included fixed wing flight back to Kathmandu)
  • Kathmandu city tour
  • Lobuche climb

This gear list has been carefully compiled over years of treks and expeditions. Please take it seriously. All of the items on the list are mandatory. If you don’t have all the items on the list, you will be required to purchase them in Kathmandu. Please contact us for specific items or more details on items.

Clothing

• • Casual travel clothes
  • Light-weight sneakers for travel and base camp
  • Medium-weight trekking boots with ankle support
  • 2 pairs light socks & 2 pairs medium-weight trekking socks
  • Medium-weight gaiters
  • 2 pairs of thermal underlayers top & bottom (1 light, 1 medium)
  • 4 pairs of underwear
  • 2 pairs of synthetic climbing pants (1 light, 1 medium)
  • 1 pair of insulated pants
  • 1 pair of shell pants (waterproof with full side zippers and fit over climbing pants)
  • 2 Medium weight layers (1 synthetic pile jacket, 1 down or synthetic vest and jacket)
  • Shell jacket (waterproof)
  • Heavy down parka with hood
  • 2 buff neck gaiters
  • 2 heavy-weight winter hats
  • Baseball hat or sun hat that protects the neck
  • Medium-weight fleece gloves
  • Heavy-weight climbing gloves

Personal equipment

• • Day pack (30L) and pack cover
  • Heavy PVC duffel bag with locks
  • Down sleeping bag (rated to -20F)
  • Trekking poles
  • 2 headlamps (1 medium-sized, 1 small-sized as a backup)
  • Batteries (make sure to have enough for the whole trip with spares)
  • 2 one-liter water bottles, wide mouth
  • Water purification (iodine tablets, filter, or UV treatment)
  • Multitool
  • Altitude watch
  • Basic medical kit with high altitude meds (blister kit, bandaids, wound closure strips, triple antibiotic ointment, basic repair kit, scissors, Diamox (acetazolamide, 125 g) for AMS, antacids, NSAIDs such as aspirin or ibuprofen, anti-diarrheal, ear plugs, duct tape, antibiotics (upper respiratory such as Azithromycin and a gastro-intestinal such as Ciprofloxacin), melatonin, asthma meds if you use it (Advair) cold and flu meds

Personal items

• • Prescription eyewear
  • Travel wallet with passport, cash and travel documents
  • 5 passport photos
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunscreen and zync
  • Hand sanitizer (several small bottles)
  • Small soap & small shampoo
  • Pack towel
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste
  • Nail trimmers
  • Baby wipes
  • Book or Kindle / iPad
  • Camera 

While you don’t need to be super athletic in order to trek the Everest Base Camp, great fitness is still required. You will be trekking 5-8 hours per day and gaining on average 300 m (1,000 ft) in elevation. Apart from long hiking days, you’ll also be carrying your daypack with all things you might need throughout the day. 

If you’re not already very active, training several weeks prior to the trek is a must—improving your cardio and strength endurance is key here. Trekking to the Everest Base Camp is by no means exclusively reserved for advanced climbers. With enough time to adjust to high altitude, some good preparation, and the right attitude, you will enjoy the trek and reach the base camp.

Walking at altitude is a slow process, so we encourage you to settle into the rhythm and pace set by your experienced guides. Enjoy taking in the magnificent views of the mountains around you, and the quaint villages that you pass through. There is no rush at altitude. You will spend 4 to 7 hours hiking each day. Be prepared to walk in all weather, and on undulating mountain terrain, crossing creeks and rivers and climbing some high passes.

From the minute you land in Lukla, you are at altitude, and your body requires time to ease and adjust to this new altitude naturally. One of the best ways to do this is to climb slowly. This itinerary is designed to allow time for acclimatization to minimize the stress of altitude on the body. However, illness at altitude can be experienced in varying degrees, from a slight headache, breathlessness or fatigue. Your guides know the signs and will work with you to help avoid and manage altitude illness. We will ask you to practice a very high level of hygiene at all stages of the trek. Your guides take many precautions to make sure we minimize the chances of our team members getting sick.

All your food on the trail is taken care of and dietary adjustments are possible.

Once you get on the Everest Base Camp Trek, you’ll stay at the finest teahouses, where hosts prepare delicious and locally sourced food. Once you reach the base camp, the food you’ll be served is the finest one on Mt. Everest. There will be a head chef, Kumar, who has been cooking for Everest expeditions for more than a decade and trains at 5-star hotels in the off-season.

Generally, while on trek and at the base camp, you can expect omelettes, pancakes, porridge, chicken, rice, stir fry, vegetables—sustainably farmed and local. You are certainly welcome and encouraged to bring some of your favorite snacks, though rest assured that your guides provide plenty of food and there will be opportunities to purchase snacks along the trail.

During your time in Kathmandu, you’ll be staying at the famous “Yak and Yeti” hotel. While you’re trekking, you’ll be staying in the finest teahouses available. And once you get to Everest Base Camp, you’ll be in a tent. Unlike most other Everest Base Camp tours, you actually get to spend the night here, not just tag “trekkers rock” and head back down to the valley. This allows you to mingle with mountaineers and experience the scene and the community of Everest expedition life.

Keep in mind that the hotel and the tent are always twin shared, as well as the majority of teahouses on the trek.

Apart from the fact that you’ll have a highly experienced and knowledgeable person by your side—who’ll also make sure you have the best time in the country—trekking in Nepal is no longer allowed without a guide. This decision has been made for the tourists’ benefit, as many tourists have gone missing over the past few years when they went trekking by themselves.

Group sizes and prices:

• • For the Everest Base Camp Trek, the usual group size is between 8 and 12 people with one guide and sherpas.
  • The cost does not decrease as the group grows. 

Trekking the Everest Base Camp can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.

Min. age requirements:

• • If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
  • Minors younger than 18 may be permitted to join the hike on a case-by-case basis, but must be in the presence of a parent or legal guardian.

If your group has hikers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.

To get to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital and the starting point of your tour, most people fly into Tribhuvan International Airport. From there to the city, it’s best to take a bus or a taxi. Downtown Kathmandu is just a 15-minute drive away.

Once you and your guide agree on the details of your itinerary, your guide will suggest the best place to meet.

Yes, to visit Nepal, you must have a Nepalese visa. For the Everest Base Camp Trek, you will need a 30 day multiple-entry visa, which is valid for 6 months and costs 50 USD. You can easily obtain it as soon as you arrive in the country, which is usually at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity. 

We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, their guides, and the communities they’re traveling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in Nepal, please refer to COVID-19 information by the U.S. Embassy in Nepal.

Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information!