OVERVIEW

Lobuche East is one of the most popular peaks in Nepal beside Island Peak. Still a neighbor with Mount Everest and it’s located even closer to Everest Base Camp trek than Island Peak. Everest climber usually use this peak to train and acclimatize. Because of its proximity why people prefer to climb it as the program for training and acclimatization before Everest.

Same as Everest Base Camp trek, it starts from Lukla until Dingboche or Periche where the trek will reroute from Dughla. Instead of following Everest Base Camp trek, it will turn and go straight to Lobuche Base Camp from Dughla. The climb will be quite straight forward from base camp, with just small technical part on the glacier. As soon as we step on the glacier which is already 6,000m, the climb will need to use rope and ascender until the top. On the top, we can see magnificent view of Mount Everest and Lhotse, as well Khumbu Valley and other spectacular peaks such as Ama Dablam, Pumori, and Nuptse.

Our program offers a slower climb of Lobuche East with high rate of success. It is suitable for you that wants to climb Himalaya peak for the first time. With a good level of fitness, Lobuche East can be climb in one day from base camp. Our program will have an overnight at high camp and possibly another camp higher if needed.

ITINERARY

DAY 1

Fly to Kathmandu
Arrive in Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel in Thamel

DAY 2

Kathmandu
Gear check in the morning and if necessary, you can go shopping in Thamel to complete your gear list. Sightseeing in Kathmandu and after that final packing.

DAY 3

Kathmandu–Lukla (2,800m)–Phakding (2,650m)
Early in the morning, flight to Lukla. Continue trekking 3-4 hours to Phakding. Stay in lodge.

DAY 4

Phakding–Namche Bazaar (3,440m)
Trekking to Namche Bazaar, around 6-7 hours. Stay in lodge.

DAY 5

Namche Bazaar–Everest View Point–Syangboche–Namche Bazaar
Acclimatization day. We go to Everest View Point hotel at 3,800m via Syangboche and acclimatize there. Back to Namche. Stay in Lodge

DAY 6

Namche Bazaar–Tengboche (3,870m)
Trekking to Tengboche, around 6-7 hours. We might stay overnight at Tengboche or Debuche (10 minutes from Tengboche) in the Rhododendron forest. Stay in lodge.

DAY 7

Tengboche–Periche (4,300m)
Trekking to Periche, around 6-7 hours. Stay in lodge.

DAY 8

Periche
Acclimatization day. We might try to reach elevation of 4,700m today. Back to Periche. Stay in lodge.

DAY 9

Periche–Lobuche Base Camp (4,900m)
Trekking to Lobuche Base Camp, around 5-6 hours. We do some intro for technical climb today. Stay in tent.

DAY 10

Lobuche Base Camp-Lobuche High Camp (5,400m)
Trekking to Lobuche Highcamp, around 3-4 hours. After that we do more training about fixed rope technique here. Stay in tent.

DAY 11

Lobuche Highcamp–Summit Ridge
Today we climb to the summit ridge where we will camp there tonight. This part is the technical part where we will use fixed rope and need some climbing skills to go up. The climb will take 5-6 hours. Stay in tent.

DAY 12

Summit Ridge-Summit (6,119m)–Base Camp/Periche
Early in the morning, we climb to Lobuche East Peak. It’s not too far from Summit ridge camp but we will walk on the knife edge ridge. After that, we go back all the way to base camp or if possible, go straight to Periche for better rest in the lodge.

DAY 13

Base Camp/Periche–Namche Bazaar
Trekking back to Namche. Stay in lodge.

DAY 14

Namche Bazaar–Lukla
Trekking to Lukla. Stay in lodge.

DAY 15

Lukla–Kathmandu
Flight to Kathmandu in the morning. You can take another sightseeing tour as an addition or just wandering around Thamel for shopping.

DAY 16

Fly back home
Fly back home. End of trip

PREPARATION

Rope skills is needed to climb Lobuche East. Though it’s not a main issue. You can train to walk on crampons and using ascender on the rope prior to expedition if possible. Or else, there’s enough time to train there. You need to be very fit. It’s a long trek to base camp and we still need to climb. The altitude can be the main issue as you need to be well acclimitzed to climb 6,000m peak.

Training should focus on cardiovascular capability. you can do running two to three times a week for 45 minutes to an hour per session. Running on a route that have elevation gain will be a lot better, or use treadmill if there’s no such terrain in your hometown. You can change one of your running sessions in a week with cycling or swimming and especially you need to do also stair climbing with at least 10kg pack. It will be a good cross training. Besides that, muscle training is advisable. Strengthen your upper and lower body muscle, as well core muscle. You can do it at the gym or do your own set of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, plank, etc.

In addition, go weekend hiking regularly. It can be started with 8 km round trip hike with roughly 6kg pack, ascending and descending 600m, in less than 2.5 hours. The aim is to ascend 900m carrying an average pack of 10 kg in 3 hours. To reach it, try to increase the difficulty of your training in some way, either by adding weight to your pack (no more than 10 percent per week) or by completing the hike in a shorter amount of time.

The capability to acclimatized are different for each person. So, building up your fitness even more will not be a waste. Just make sure you don’t injure yourself by overtraining and always have enough rest. Train 6 month before will increase the rate of success. But if you don’t have that much time, train at least 3 months before.

GEAR LIST