Pokalde Peak Climbing
Pokalde (5,806 m) is the most approachable of the Khumbu's permitted climbing peaks, and the honest answer for anyone wh
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Trip Overview
Pokalde (5,806 m) is the most approachable of the Khumbu's permitted climbing peaks, and the honest answer for anyone who wants a real summit without a night on a glacier. It rises just north of the Kongma La, between the Imja and Khumbu valleys, and its climb is mostly a steep rock scramble on a boulder ridge with a short section of fixed rope and a snow slope near the top — no crevasses, no headwall, no two o'clock start.
It is also the peak that gets undersold. At 5,806 m it is higher than anything in the Alps or North America, the summit ridge is properly exposed, and the view from the top is arguably better than Island Peak's: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Makalu, Ama Dablam and the Khumbu glacier all at once, from a summit almost nobody else is standing on. This itinerary summits from a camp below the Kongma La, then crosses the pass itself to Lobuche and walks out through the Khumbu valley, so the return is new ground rather than the same trail twice.
Trip Highlights
Summit Pokalde (5,806 m): A genuine Himalayan summit on rock and snow, without glacier travel or a midnight start.
Cross the Kongma La (5,535 m): Walk out over the highest of the Khumbu's three passes, into the Khumbu valley below Lobuche.
Everest, Lhotse and Makalu from the Top: A summit panorama that rivals peaks twice its technical difficulty.
The Best First Climbing Permit: Short fixed-rope work and a scramble ridge — the natural introduction before Island Peak or Mera.
A Loop, Not an Out-and-Back: Approach through the Imja valley and return down the Khumbu, seeing new trail on the way home.
Itinerary
A 16-day itinerary to the summit of Pokalde (5,806 m) from a camp below the Kongma La, returning over the pass itself into the Khumbu valley rather than retracing the approach.
1Day 1Arrival in Nepal – Kathmandu (1,400 m), Briefing and Equipment Check
Arrival in Nepal – Kathmandu (1,400 m), Briefing and Equipment Check
You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m) and our representative meets you and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.
The briefing and equipment check are held this evening so that no day is spent waiting in the city. Your guide runs through the sixteen-day plan, the summit day and the Kongma La crossing, then fits harnesses, checks that your boots take a semi-automatic crampon, and swaps anything unsuitable for rental kit.
Our office lodges the climbing permit and park paperwork with your passport and photographs. Overnight in Kathmandu.
2Day 2Fly to Lukla (2,840 m) and Trek to Phakding (2,610 m)
Fly to Lukla (2,840 m) and Trek to Phakding (2,610 m)
The flight into Lukla (2,840 m) leaves at first light — thirty-five minutes from Kathmandu, or a pre-dawn drive to Manthali and a twenty-minute hop in peak season.
Loads are sorted over tea with the porters, and the trail drops north through Chaurikharka and Ghat, past mani walls and water-driven prayer wheels.
Phakding (2,610 m) is lower than Lukla, which makes an easy first night at altitude. Around 3 to 4 hours. Overnight at Phakding.
3Day 3Trek from Phakding (2,610 m) to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Trek from Phakding (2,610 m) to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Five prayer-flagged suspension bridges carry the trail across the Dudh Koshi and up through blue pine to Monjo, where permits are checked at the Sagarmatha National Park gate.
Past Jorsalle the Hillary Bridge crosses the confluence high above the water, and the trail then climbs 600 m to Namche — the first real effort, with a first view of Everest on the way up if the sky is clear.
Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) has bakeries, gear shops and an ATM. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Namche.
4Day 4Acclimatisation Day at Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Acclimatisation Day at Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Climb high, sleep low. The morning goes up to the Everest View Hotel (3,880 m), with Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam straight up the valley from the terrace.
On to Khumjung and Khunde beneath Khumbi Yul Lha, past the monastery with its disputed yeti scalp and the hospital built by Edmund Hillary's foundation in 1966.
The afternoon is free for the Sherpa Culture Museum and the market. Your guide takes the first oxygen saturation readings tonight. Around 4 hours. Overnight at Namche.
5Day 5Trek from Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) to Tengboche (3,860 m)
Trek from Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) to Tengboche (3,860 m)
The balcony trail runs nearly level out of Namche for two hours, high above the Dudh Koshi with Ama Dablam ahead the whole way.
At Phunki Thenga it drops to the river and climbs 600 m through rhododendron and birch to the saddle — a long, honest pull.
Tengboche (3,860 m) holds the largest monastery in the Khumbu, and its afternoon prayer ceremony is open to visitors. Around 5 to 6 hours. Overnight at Tengboche.
6Day 6Trek from Tengboche (3,860 m) to Dingboche (4,410 m)
Trek from Tengboche (3,860 m) to Dingboche (4,410 m)
Down through Deboche, over the Imja Khola above a gorge, and up to Pangboche (3,930 m), the oldest permanent Sherpa settlement in the valley.
Above Pangboche the trees end and the valley opens into a wide grey trough of moraine and grazing land, with Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Taboche closing in around it.
Dingboche (4,410 m) sits among stone-walled potato and barley fields. Around 5 hours. Overnight at Dingboche.
7Day 7Acclimatisation Day at Dingboche (4,410 m) – Nangkartshang (5,083 m)
Acclimatisation Day at Dingboche (4,410 m) – Nangkartshang (5,083 m)
The key acclimatisation day. We climb the ridge behind the village to Nangkartshang (5,083 m) — steep but non-technical, two to three hours on scree and rock.
Reaching 5,000 m today and sleeping 600 m lower is what makes the summit comfortable rather than desperate in a week's time. Makalu appears over the eastern ridge, with Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Taboche around you and Pokalde itself visible to the north-west.
Rest, water and food for the remainder of the day, and an evening saturation check. Around 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at Dingboche.
8Day 8Trek from Dingboche (4,410 m) to Chhukung (4,730 m)
Trek from Dingboche (4,410 m) to Chhukung (4,730 m)
A short, gentle day east up the Imja valley on the moraine, climbing steadily with the 3,000 m south face of Lhotse filling the head of the valley.
Chhukung (4,730 m) is the last teahouse before base camp — a handful of lodges on the moraine with a stove in the dining room.
The afternoon is a short acclimatisation walk toward Chhukung Ri, then a gear sort: what goes up to base camp, and what stays behind. Around 3 hours. Overnight at Chhukung.
9Day 9Trek from Chhukung (4,730 m) to Pokalde Base Camp (5,000 m)
Trek from Chhukung (4,730 m) to Pokalde Base Camp (5,000 m)
The trail leaves the Imja valley and climbs west into the wide, empty basin below the Kongma La, on rough moraine and boulder ground with almost nobody else on it.
It is a noticeable change from the Khumbu's main trail — no lodges, no yak trains, no queue at the bridges. The ground is rocky and the walking is slow, and the altitude does the rest.
Pokalde Base Camp (5,000 m) is a tented camp beside a small tarn under the peak's south ridge. Camp is standing when you arrive. The afternoon is for a short training session on rope, helmet and crampon work, and an early night. Around 4 to 5 hours. Overnight at base camp.
10Day 10Summit Pokalde (5,806 m) and Return to Base Camp (5,000 m)
Summit Pokalde (5,806 m) and Return to Base Camp (5,000 m)
A civilised start — tea at four, walking by five, with the sky already lightening. The route climbs the boulder slope above camp to the south ridge and then follows it, hands out of pockets on the steeper steps, wearing a helmet the whole way because the rock is loose.
Near the top comes the only real technical ground: a short section of fixed rope on a steeper rock step, and above it a narrow crest of rock and snow, exposed on both sides, climbed one at a time with the rope on.
The summit (5,806 m) carries prayer flags and one of the finest views in the Khumbu — Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Makalu, Ama Dablam and the whole Khumbu glacier — from a top that almost nobody else is standing on. Back down the same way. Five to seven hours in total. Overnight at base camp.
11Day 11Cross the Kongma La (5,535 m) and Trek to Lobuche (4,940 m)
Cross the Kongma La (5,535 m) and Trek to Lobuche (4,940 m)
The hardest walking day of the trip, and also the reserve day — if yesterday was blown out, the summit is attempted this morning and the pass crossed tomorrow instead.
The climb to the Kongma La (5,535 m) takes two to three hours on boulder and scree from camp, past frozen tarns, to a cairn buried in prayer flags. It is the highest and least walked of the three Khumbu passes, and the view back over the Imja valley to Ama Dablam is worth the effort on its own.
The far side is the serious part: a steep, loose descent onto the Khumbu glacier, then an hour or more picking a line across its rubble-covered ice, following cairns, before climbing the far moraine to Lobuche (4,940 m). Seven to nine hours. Overnight at Lobuche.
12Day 12Trek from Lobuche (4,940 m) to Pangboche (3,930 m)
Trek from Lobuche (4,940 m) to Pangboche (3,930 m)
Down the moraine and past the Thukla memorial, a field of stone chortens for climbers lost on Everest and the peaks around it, then the steep drop beside the glacier snout to Thukla (4,620 m).
The trail continues down the Pheriche valley past the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic, where a doctor gives a free altitude talk most afternoons in season.
A gentle final climb brings you to Pangboche (3,930 m), where juniper and birch reappear and the air feels suddenly generous. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Pangboche.
13Day 13Trek from Pangboche (3,930 m) to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Trek from Pangboche (3,930 m) to Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
Down through Deboche and up the short climb to the Tengboche saddle, worth a last stop at the monastery for the view of Ama Dablam.
The steep descent to Phunki Thenga tests tired knees, and then the balcony trail contours back around the hillside toward Namche, high above the Dudh Koshi.
Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) means a hot shower, a bakery and a beer. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Namche.
14Day 14Trek from Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) to Lukla (2,840 m)
Trek from Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) to Lukla (2,840 m)
The last walking day. Steeply down to the Hillary Bridge, then along the Dudh Koshi through Jorsalle and Monjo, where you check out of the national park.
Through Phakding and past the mani walls, and then the final climb to Lukla (2,840 m) — always longer than it looks.
The evening is the end-of-trip dinner with the guide, Sherpas and porters, and the point at which tips are given. Around 6 to 7 hours. Overnight at Lukla.
15Day 15Fly from Lukla (2,840 m) to Kathmandu (1,400 m)
Fly from Lukla (2,840 m) to Kathmandu (1,400 m)
Lukla flights leave early, before the wind builds in the valley. Thirty-five minutes to Kathmandu, or a landing at Manthali with a road transfer onward in peak season.
Delays are normal here rather than exceptional, which is why no international departure is scheduled for today.
Our vehicle meets the flight at the domestic terminal and drives you into Thamel, where the afternoon is free for a long shower and whatever you have been thinking about eating since Dingboche.
Your summit certificate is presented in the evening, along with the group photographs from the ridge. Overnight in Kathmandu.
16Day 16Departure from Nepal
Departure from Nepal
The trip ends today. If your flight is a late one there is time for a last morning in Kathmandu — Durbar Marg for the shopping, Boudhanath for the stupa, or simply a slow breakfast somewhere with a roof terrace.
Our representative collects you from the hotel and drives you to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before departure.
If you are staying on in Nepal, we can arrange Chitwan, Pokhara, Lumbini or a Kathmandu valley tour. Safe travels, and we hope to climb with you again.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Lukla flights, airport transfers, Kathmandu hotel nights, teahouse and tented accommodation, three meals a day throughout, the NMA climbing permit and park fees, a licensed climbing guide with Sherpa support, group climbing equipment and the training session are included, while international flights, visa, mountaineering insurance, personal climbing hardware, personal gear, city meals, tips and weather-related extra costs are not.
What's Included
Airport pickup and drop-off services in Kathmandu.
Round-trip flight between Kathmandu and Lukla, including the road transfer to and from Manthali in Ramechhap when the flights are operating from there in peak season.
Private airport and hotel transfers in Kathmandu.
Two nights of accommodation in Kathmandu with breakfast.
Accommodation in local teahouses on the approach and the walk out.
Tented accommodation at Pokalde base camp (5,000 m), with a mess tent, kitchen tent and toilet tent.
Three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) throughout the trip.
Nepal Mountaineering Association climbing permit for Pokalde, Sagarmatha National Park entry permit, and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit.
Government-licensed climbing guide, with all equipment, wages and insurance.
One climbing Sherpa for every three climbers on summit day, with all their equipment, wages and insurance.
Group climbing equipment: fixed and main ropes, snow bars, ice screws, and anchors.
Garbage deposit paid to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Group map, and a comprehensive first aid kit carried by the guide.
Cook and kitchen crew for the base camp nights.
A pre-climb training session at base camp covering crampons, helmet and rope use, and fixed-line technique.
Porter transport of group climbing equipment and camp gear from Chhukung to base camp.
Summit certificate issued after a successful ascent.
All government taxes, permit fees, and service charges.
What's Excluded
International flight tickets to and from Nepal.
Nepal entry visa fees.
Travel insurance covering mountaineering to the height of this peak, including emergency helicopter evacuation and repatriation.
Personal climbing equipment — harness, crampons, ice axe, ascender, descender, helmet and carabiners (available to rent as an add-on).
Personal trekking equipment and clothing, including boots and a sleeping bag.
Porter services (available at an additional cost).
Lunch and dinner in Kathmandu.
Snacks, bottled water, hot showers, Wi-Fi, charging fees, and alcoholic or soft drinks.
Personal expenses such as laundry, phone calls, and souvenirs.
Tips for the guide, climbing Sherpa, porters and support staff.
Any additional accommodation, transport, or expenses caused by weather, flight delays, an early descent, or other circumstances beyond the itinerary.
Route Map
Explore the terrain map showing the trek route.
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Altitude Profile
Pricing
Transparent per-person pricing based on group size, covering the services listed in the itinerary with no hidden charges.
Add-ons
Customize your climb with optional services such as porter support, climbing equipment rental and other personalized arrangements at an additional cost.
Best Time to Climb
Late March to May and late September to November are the two climbing seasons, and they are not interchangeable. Spring brings longer days, warmer nights at base camp and deeper, more consolidated snow on the headwall, which makes the ice easier to move on but the glacier softer by late morning. Autumn brings the clearest air of the year, colder mornings, and harder, more brittle ice.
The monsoon closes the mountain from June to early September: the Lukla flights become unreliable for days at a time, the trail turns to mud below Namche, and the summit sits in cloud. December to February is climbable in a settled window but brutally cold at the high camp, with a real risk of being shut out by wind. We run departures in the two main seasons only.
Climb Difficulty & Technical Grade
Pokalde is graded PD- and is the easiest peak in this catalogue, but easiest is not the same as easy. The climb from base camp takes five to seven hours round trip and starts at a civilised four or five in the morning rather than one. Most of it is a boulder and scree ridge — hands-on scrambling in places, on loose rock, wearing a helmet.
The last part is where the rope comes out: a short section of fixed line on a steeper rock step, and then a narrow snow and rock crest to the summit, exposed on both sides and climbed one at a time. There is no glacier and no crevasse risk, which is precisely why it suits a first climb. The Kongma La (5,535 m), crossed two days later, is a long day on rough ground and is arguably harder work than the summit itself.
The rope techniques used on the climb are explained step by step in our guide to fixed rope and jumar skills.
Training, Experience & Acclimatisation
No previous climbing experience is needed. If you can walk uphill for six or seven hours carrying 8 kg, are steady on loose rock, and have trekked at altitude before, you have what this peak asks for. It is the trip we recommend to trekkers who have done Everest Base Camp and want to come back for something with a rope on it.
The acclimatisation profile is deliberately generous for the height involved: two nights at Namche (3,440 m), two at Dingboche (4,410 m) including the Nangkartshang climb to 5,083 m, and a night at Chhukung (4,730 m) before base camp. By the time you reach the summit you will already have been above 5,000 m twice. That margin is why the success rate here is the highest of any peak we run.
If this would be your first Himalayan summit, our beginner's guide to peak climbing in Nepal covers the skills you need and how to judge whether you are ready.
Travel Insurance
Insurance covering mountaineering to 6,000 m is mandatory, and we check the policy before the permit is issued. Because Pokalde is under 6,000 m, more standard policies cover it than cover Island Peak or Mera — but the cover still has to name mountaineering and fixed-rope use, not just trekking. A policy that stops at 4,000 m covers you as far as Namche and no further.
The policy must include emergency helicopter evacuation and repatriation. Helicopters reach Dingboche, Chhukung and Lobuche routinely and can land near base camp in good conditions, but they are dispatched against a guarantee of payment. We take your policy number and the insurer's 24-hour emergency line at the Kathmandu briefing.
Our guide to travel insurance for trekking in Nepal explains the altitude limits, evacuation terms and common exclusions to check before you buy.
Packing List & Climbing Equipment
Because there is no glacier night, the kit list is lighter than for a 6,000 m peak. Sturdy four-season trekking boots that take a semi-automatic crampon are sufficient — full double boots are not needed. Bring a -20°C sleeping bag, a down jacket, waterproof shell layers, gloves and liner gloves, a warm hat, a buff, category 4 sunglasses, gaiters, a headlamp and factor 50 sunscreen.
A helmet is not optional on this peak — the ridge is loose and parties above dislodge stones. We supply the fixed rope, main rope and anchors, and personal hardware — harness, crampons, ice axe, jumar, descender, helmet and carabiners — can be rented as an add-on and is fitted in Kathmandu at the briefing.
Our peak climbing gear list covers each item in more detail, including which to buy, hire or bring from home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find quick answers to common questions about the Pokalde Peak Climbing.
1Is Pokalde really the easiest climbing peak in Nepal?
Of the peaks that are regularly guided, yes — in terms of technical ground. Yala Peak is easier still but is a walk rather than a climb. What Pokalde does not do is make the altitude easy: 5,806 m is 1,000 m above Kala Patthar and the air is genuinely thin up there.
2Do I need crampons if there is no glacier?
Yes, for the snow slope and crest near the summit and for the Kongma La in early or late season. They are semi-automatic crampons on stiff trekking boots rather than full mountaineering boots and technical crampons, but they go on and they matter on frozen ground before the sun hits it.
3Where is base camp and what is it like?
At around 5,000 m in the basin below the Kongma La, reached in four to five hours from Chhukung. It is a tented camp with a mess tent, kitchen tent and toilet tent, on rocky ground beside a small tarn. There is no lodge and no shelter, and it is cold as soon as the sun goes.
4How does this compare with Island Peak?
About half the technical difficulty and 400 m less height. Island Peak has a glacier, crevasses and a hundred metres of steep ice; Pokalde has a scramble and a short fixed rope. If Island Peak is your goal but you have never used crampons, doing Pokalde first is a genuinely useful step rather than a consolation.
5What is the Kongma La like?
The highest of the three Khumbu passes at 5,535 m and the least walked, because it is a long day over rough boulder fields and moraine with a stiff climb on both sides. Seven to nine hours from base camp to Lobuche. It is the hardest walking day of the trip.
6Can I add Everest Base Camp to this trip?
Easily, and it fits naturally — after crossing the Kongma La you are at Lobuche, two hours from Gorak Shep. Adding base camp and Kala Patthar extends the itinerary by two days and we are glad to quote it. Several of our climbers do exactly this.
7What is the summit success rate?
Above 90 percent on our departures, the highest of any peak we run. The turn-backs are almost always weather on the ridge or someone still not acclimatised, not the climbing itself.
8How long is summit day?
Five to seven hours round trip from base camp, starting around four or five in the morning. It is by a wide margin the shortest summit day of any climbing peak in the Khumbu, and one of the reasons the peak suits people who want to enjoy the climb rather than endure it.
9Is there a false summit on Pokalde?
There are several minor high points along the ridge that look like the top from below, which catches out parties climbing without a guide. The true summit carries prayer flags and is unmistakable once you are on it. Your guide knows the difference.
10Can I climb Pokalde and Island Peak on the same trip?
Yes, and it is a strong combination — Pokalde first as a warm-up and acclimatisation climb, then Island Peak with everything already learned. We run it as a combined itinerary of around 19 days, and also as a three-peak trip adding Lobuche East.
Gallery
Explore authentic moments, camps and summit views from the Pokalde Peak Climbing.
Trekking Guides & Articles
Pokalde Peak Climbing: The Complete Guide — The most approachable of the Khumbu's climbing peaks and the honest answer for anyone who wants a real summit without a night on a glacier.
Peak Climbing in Nepal: A Beginner's Guide to Trekking Peaks — Nepal's trekking peaks let a fit trekker reach 6,000 m with a week of skills rather than years of experience.
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