Everest Three High Passes Trek

A Firante representative will meet you at Tribhuvan International Airport and transfer you to your hotel by private car. Once you have settled in, take the rest of the day to rest, or head out to explore Thamel. In the evening, Firante hosts a welcome dinner with traditional Nepali cuisine, and you will meet your trek leader for a first briefing.

After breakfast, we visit four of Kathmandu’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Pashupatinath Temple, Swayambhunath (the “Monkey Temple”), and Boudhanath, the largest stupa in the world. In the afternoon, we go through final trek preparation with your guide and meet the rest of the group.

Your Everest Three High Passes adventure begins with an early morning flight to Lukla, the main gateway to the Khumbu region. On a clear day, the short mountain flight offers beautiful views of the Himalayan landscape before landing at Tenzing-Hillary Airport.

Depending on the season, airline schedule and current flight operations, your flight to Lukla may depart from Kathmandu or Manthali (Ramechhap). When flights are operated from Manthali, you will travel by road from Kathmandu to Ramechhap Airport before taking the flight to Lukla. The drive requires an early start, and the exact departure arrangements will be confirmed before your trek.

After landing in Lukla, you will meet the local support team and have breakfast before starting the trek. The trail gradually leaves Lukla and heads north toward Phakding, following the Dudh Koshi River through the lower Khumbu valley.

The first section of the trail passes through small mountain settlements, cultivated fields and forested hillsides. You will walk through Cheplung, where, on a clear day, you can see Khumbila, a sacred mountain deeply respected by the Sherpa community.

From Cheplung, the trail continues through the valley, crossing small streams and passing traditional mountain villages as it follows the Dudh Koshi River. The route eventually reaches Phakding, a peaceful riverside settlement and one of the traditional overnight stops on the way to Namche Bazaar.

Although this is a relatively short trekking day, it marks the beginning of your journey into the high Himalayas. The gradual start gives you an opportunity to settle into the mountain environment before the trail becomes steeper and more demanding in the days ahead.

Flight Note: Lukla flights are highly dependent on weather, air traffic and airline operations. During busy trekking periods, flights may operate from Manthali/Ramechhap instead of Kathmandu. The departure airport and flight schedule can change, so some flexibility should be maintained when planning your journey.

The trail today runs steadily uphill and downhill, and we cross the Dudh Koshi River on suspension bridges several times along the way. Near Benkar village, Mount Thamserku comes into view above the valley, one of the first big peaks of the trek. After the bridges, we enter Sagarmatha National Park at Monjo, where your trekking permits are checked, then continue through Jorsale before the final climb into Namche Bazaar. From Namche, on a clear day, you get your first real look at Everest, Tawache, Lhotse, and several other Himalayan giants.

A full rest and acclimatization day. Rather than sitting still, we take a short hike, either around Namche itself or up toward the Everest View Hotel for close-range mountain views. Options include Khumjung monastery, home to a relic said to be a yeti scalp, the Hillary School, and the Sagarmatha National Park visitor centre for background on the region’s flora, fauna, and mountaineering history.

An easier trail leads out toward Phunki Thanga before the climb begins up to Tengboche, home to the largest monastery in the Everest region. Tengboche sits inside Sagarmatha National Park, and from the monastery grounds you get a picture-perfect view of Everest alongside Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Nuptse and Thamserku. We aim to reach the monastery by early afternoon, since that’s when the monks often hold their prayer ceremony, and it’s worth timing the day around.

The day starts with a downhill stretch through dense forest, thick with rhododendron, conifer, and birch, with Everest, Ama Dablam, and Lhotse in view along the way. We drop down to Debuche and cross the Imja River before climbing to Pangboche, home to another important monastery and clear Himalayan views from its upper trail. From there, we continue through the Imja valley, then ascend to Dingboche, a striking, windswept village lined with chortens and prayer flags.

Dingboche is where most climbers and trekkers pause to acclimatize before pushing on toward Everest, Imja Tse and Ama Dablam. The village itself is worth a look; its fields of barley, potato, and buckwheat are boxed in by stone walls that protect them from grazing animals and the strong winds up here. For the acclimatization hike, we head up Nagarjun Hill, which opens up views of Lhotse, Makalu, Ama Dablam, Tawache and Cholatse all at once.

The trail runs past stone-walled fields into the Imja Khola valley, then onto glacier moraine surrounded by rocky peaks. Near Bibre, Amphu Labtsa and Ama Dablam come into clear view, and the trail from here crisscrosses icy streams on the way to Chhukhung. After lunch, we climb Chhukung Ri itself, and the summit gives a close, striking view of both Amphu Labtsa and Ama Dablam before we descend back to Chhukhung for the night.

An early start for the highest of the three passes, Kongma La. Depending on conditions, we take either the route north-east of Chhukhung above the Nuptse glacier, or back via Bibre and the Niyang Khola. The final descent from the pass is the most technical part of the day. From the moraine, the trail turns north along the Khumbu Glacier into Lobuche.

Note: Trekking to Kongma La Pass is optional if you don’t want to undertake such a challenging trail; we can head directly to Lobuche from Chukhang.

The trail follows the moraine of the Khumbu Glacier, with Everest’s north ridge in view alongside Mahalangur, Khumbutse, Nuptse and Lingtren. We climb up toward Thangma Riju for a wide view of the surrounding landscape, then push up the steep trail past the Changri glacier to reach Gorak Shep. After a short rest, we continue toward Everest Base Camp itself, crossing rocky hills, streams, and moraine along the way. At Base Camp, Khumbutse, Pumori, Nuptse, and Everest rise directly around you before we retrace the trail back to Gorak Shep for the night.

Optional: Some groups prefer to hike up to Kalapatthar this same evening for sunset views over Everest rather than waiting for the next morning; your guide will advise based on weather and energy levels.

An early start gets us to Kalapatthar in time for sunrise over Everest, one of the coldest and highest points of the whole trek, so come prepared. Along the way, Khumbutse, Changtse, Nuptse, Lingtren, and Everest all stay in view. From the top, Everest and its neighboring peaks feel close enough to touch. After taking it in, we descend back down to Lobuche for the night.

Today’s trail runs downhill along the Khumbu Glacier. Where the path splits in two, we take the right-hand trail, which offers a good view of Awi Peak along the way. We pass a series of stupas before the trail climbs again, and Chola Tsho Lake comes into view, followed by a second, smaller lake further along. From there, we cross the Chola Khola on a bridge and arrive in Dzongla, sitting right below the approach to Cho La.

This is where Cho La Lake starts to appear as the trail climbs toward the pass. The ascent is genuinely steep, with large boulders underfoot making the going slower, and the final stretch curves carefully around crevasses near the top, so pace and footing matter here more than any other day. The surrounding peaks make it worth the effort. On the far side, the trail eases off as it drops toward Thangnak, and continues on to the edge of the Ngozumba Glacier, Nepal’s longest. Once across, the second Gokyo Lake comes into view, and a short walk further brings the third lake, with Gokyo village sitting right on its shore.

We climb Gokyo Ri in the morning for one of the best panoramas on the entire trek. From there, we continue on to the fourth Gokyo Lake, roughly 3 km from the village, then push on to the fifth, where Scoundrel’s Viewpoint looks out over Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Nuptse, Everest, Gyachung Kang, and the full sweep of the Ngozumba Glacier. We retrace our steps back to Gokyo for the night.

This is a long day, so we start early. The trail follows the Dudh Koshi before the climb to Renjo La begins, with the Rolwaling range coming into view along the way, and from the top, a clear line of sight straight to Everest. The descent runs down a stone staircase toward the south bank of Angladhumba Tsho, over icy sections that call for careful footing, past Relama Tsho and Renjo La Lake, then through a narrow, boulder-choked valley toward Lumde before the final stretch into Marlung.

We descend from Marlung to Thame along the old trans-Himalayan trading route, walked by Tibetan traders for centuries, crossing the Bhote Koshi River and passing through Taranga along the way. Two more bridge crossings bring us into Thame itself, known for its monastery set high on the hillside above the village. From there, the trail descends gradually through several more villages before reaching Namche Bazaar.

The trail descends steadily, crossing the Dudh Koshi repeatedly on suspension bridges as the terrain levels out. We walk through wide stretches of pine and rhododendron forest, with snow-capped peaks still visible behind us, and pass through Sherpa villages marked by prayer walls and flags before the final stretch into Lukla.

An early flight back to Kathmandu, weather permitting, avoids the afternoon winds common in the mountains. Once back at the hotel, there is time to rest or shop in Thamel. In the evening, Firante hosts a farewell dinner to celebrate finishing the trek.

A Firante representative will transfer you to the airport, timed roughly three hours ahead of your flight, bringing the trip to a close.

 Airport drop-off by private car.