Everest Treks

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More than 60 years since the first ascent of Everest, the allure of the world's highest mountain is as strong as ever.

Jagged Globe organises climbing expeditions to the summit each spring and our records over the last 20 years are un-matched by any other British organisation (commercial, civilian or military). Whilst reaching the summit remains a risky business and is the preserve of the committed mountaineer, the trek to base camp is a challenge any reasonably fit walker or hiker can enjoy.

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Introduction

More than 60 years since the first ascent of Everest, the allure of the world's highest mountain is as strong as ever.

"Jagged Globe answered my specific queries regarding acclimatisation and success rates. Upon scrutinising Jagged Globe and comparing other companies offering similar trips, it was a clear and easy decision to select Jagged Globe by their offering of a far superior product. The Everest Base Camp Trek far exceeded my expectations and the sheer beauty of the Himalayas took my breath away, literally" PW, Everest Base Camp Trek.

Jagged Globe - taking climbers to Everest's summit and trekkers to Base Camp for over two decades

Jagged Globe organises climbing expeditions to the summit of Everest each spring and our records over the last 20 years are un-matched by any other British organisation (commercial, civilian or military). Whilst reaching the summit remains a risky business and is the preserve of the committed mountaineer, the trek to base camp is a challenge any reasonably fit walker or hiker can enjoy. We are proud of our record on Everest (we achieved 100% success recently, in 2011 and 2013) and we are equally proud of our record helping trekkers to reach base camp.

In the spring and autumn seasons, you can share with us the wonderful journey up the Khumbu Valley, through Sherpa country, surrounded by the Giants of Himalaya to reach base camp below the tumbling Khumbu Icefall. During April and May, when teams are climbing Everest, you might be lucky enough to meet the Jagged Globe team there (as long as they are not climbing to higher camps as part of their build-up, or even on the summit push). Our Chef will even cook you lunch, whilst you get a feel for what it must be like to spend two months here trying to reach the highest point in the world.

How to choose your route to Everest Base Camp?

We offer three main trekking itineraries: Everest Base Camp Trek; Everest 3 Peaks 3 Passes and Everest Team Trek.

Everest Base Camp Trek
Our most popular Everest trek is 19-days from the UK, 14 of which are spent trekking. From Kathmandu you fly to the airstrip at Lukla and trek up the main Khumbu Valley through the Sherpa capital, Namche Bazaar and Thanygboche, with its famous monastery to the farming village of Dingboche. From here you continue through Lobuje to Gorak Shep, where the original base camp of the 1953 first ascent team was placed. You spend three nights in Gorak Shep to give you enough time to both climb Kala Pattar and trek all the way into today's base camp, which is a further five hours beyond Gorak Shep. You stay in Tea Houses (lodges) throughout the trek and spend three nights in Namche Bazaar on the way up as this is the key to optimising your acclimatisation early on (see 'Medical Research' below). The norm is to spend two nights here and just one of two nights in Gorak Shep. This itinerary is 1 or 2 days longer than mass-market trips, but the chances of your reaching base camp without a headache are far greater.

Everest 3 Peaks 3 Passes
This is our 'ultimate' Everest trekking itinerary. It follows a circuit, trekking from Lukla and Namche Bazaar to Thame and over the Renjo La pass to Gokyo Lakes. The Renjo La offers some of the best views of Everest, as does Gokyo Ri, which is the first of the three peaks. From Gokyo you cross the 2nd pass, the Cho La, to re-join the main Everest trail and continue to base camp. Having climbed the second peak, Kala Pattar and trekked right into Everest Base Camp, you then cross the 3rd and final pass - the Kongma La - to arrive in the Imja Valley. Here, you climb the third peak, Chukkung Ri, before re-joining the main Everest trekking route once again and descending down the Khumbu Valley via the monastery at Thyangboche. This longer trek is 24 days from the UK (20 days of trekking altogether) and is a tented trek, as there are no Tea Houses (lodges) in some of the more remote sections. It's a tough trek, suitable for fit walkers or those with previous trekking experience.

Everest Team Trek

This itinerary is an opportunity to trek with the climbers to Everest Base Camp at the start of the season. There is one departure each year in early April. The trek goes up and down the main Khumbu Valley and is virtually identical to our Everest Base Camp trek, the difference is that the climbers like to spend more time in the village of Dingboche (4,410m), before continuing to base camp. Dingboche is a Sherpa village and there are excellent day-walks up the Imja Valley. Previous teams have also climbed up the non-technical peak, Chukkung Ri (5,550m), and crossed the Kongma La pass to re-join the Everest trail higher up. Overall, this is a unique opportunity to get an insight into an Everest expedition.

Medical Research - why do we spend 3 nights in Namche Bazaar on our Everest Base Camp Trek?

In 2007 Jagged Globe organised the Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition. As part of this medical research expedition, which included taking arterial blood samples at 8,400m on Everest, 240 trekkers were tested on their trek to base camp. The findings from that research, amongst many other things, supported previous research by Dr Peter Hackett that spending 3 nights in Namche Bazaar on the route to base camp, had a positive benefit to trekkers’ acclimatisation. The norm is to spend 2 nights in Namche, but following the publication of Xtreme Everest’s research, we changed our itinerary to allow for an extra day. Overall, 98.7% of trekkers on the Xtreme Everest treks got to base camp. The 2.3% (3 trekkers) who had to retire did so for non-altituderelated reasons. These statistics are impressive and since 2007, most Jagged Globe Everest Base Camp teams have enjoyed a similar high rate of success. Our mantra “More Acclimatisation = More Success” can be summed up by that one extra night in Namche Bazaar. In 2013 we organised more Xtreme Everest treks, which once again saw over 200 trekkers tested as part of the ongoing research into hypoxia – lack of oxygen reaching the body’s vital organs. Ultimately the Xtreme Everest team’s research will improve survival rates of patients in intensive care. A spin off for us is to better understand acclimatisation and the importance of gradual ascent profiles.