Island peak climbing is no wonder, one of the best adventure sports one can perform in Nepal. The adventure will leads you to the top of the island peak (also known as Imja Tse) from where you can witness the beautiful view of mountains in the Khumbu region. Climbing to the 6189m with backpacks, all the necessary equipment need extra courage, guts, and mental wellness. So, how long does it takes to do the Island Peak Climbing? We will be talking about the normal itinerary, and some cases where the number of necessary time to reach to the summit might be varied.
Climbing in Normal Condition
The trip starts once you put your legs on the plane at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to reach Lukla. Reaching Phakding village a few hour’s walks from the Tenzing Hillary Airports might be the goal of the first day if you are not in a hurry otherwise climbers can reach Namche Bazar on the first day. A rest day is necessary even if the climber doesn’t want to cause people to need to be familiar with the environment of high Himalayas. Looking around and capturing the best scenery around the
Namche would be a great advantage of the acclimatization day.
On the next day climbers might reach Tangboche after hiking 4-5 hours in normal day. Well, you can roam around the Tangboche and have a look at the Tangboche monastery, which is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Following the route path to the summit, Dangboche, Island peak base camp are two of the popular spot.
Well, you can have more than 1 rest day in the route to heal yourself from the cold, and epic weather of Himalayan range. This will surely effect your itinerary and the length of the Island peak climbing. Person with perfect physical condition, trained and with strong mental ability plan to go to the peak of Imja tse, they can complete this whole trip in 13 days including ascending and descending.
Outline Itinerary of Island Peak Climbing
Day 01: Arrival day in Kathmandu.
Day 02: Kathmandu city tour and climbing preparation
Day 03: Kathmandu to Lukla flight and trek to Phakding Village
Day 04: Phakding to Namche.
Day 05: Namche Bazar Rest day
Day 06: Namche to Tengboche
Day 07: Tengboche to Dingboche
Day 08: Dingboche Rest Day.
Day 09: Dingboche to Chhukung.
Day 10: Chhukung to Island peak Base Camp
Day 11: Climbing to Island Peak summit and Trek to Chhukung
Day 12: Leaser day in Island peak Base Camp
Day 13: Chhukung to Namche.
Day 14: Namche to Lukla.
Day 15: Lukla to Kathmandu flight
Day 16: Rest day/Shopping in Kathmandu
Day 17: International Airport Departure
What affects the length of the Trip?
Season
In the winter and rainy season, it is nearly impossible but exciting, challenging, and wild experiencing. There will be much snow, and rainfall during these seasons respectively. The path might be covered with snow up to 5 feet and it’s difficult to walk on such thick snow. On the other hand, a slippery path made by the continuous rainfall during the rainy season will block you to move further. The difficult pathways will surely affect the itinerary of the Island peak climbing.
Autumn, and Spring are known to be the best time of the year to do any kind of adventure sports in Nepal. Snow-level on the high Himalayas will be comparatively thinner as compared to winter in other words our equipment can easily cut-off the icy structure on the path making us easy to overcome our difficulties.
Also, weather in Lukla plays a role in defining the duration of the climbing, if the weather is too bad, you won’t be able to land and fly from the popular Tenzing Hillary airport
Physical & Mental Ability
A perfectly fit person can move as per the plan even if he/she hasn’t done trekking in the Himalayas before. But people with weak physical ability will feel discomfort due to altitude, tiredness, and rapid climate change in the Imja valley. Having a weak body needs extra rest affecting the duration of the whole trip.
Well, being mentally strong will grant you great success if you dare to do that. Climbing a 6189m peak is not a joke and should be a respective task for people. So, you need to be well prepared for any kind of
disadvantages on the way to complete the Island peak in a predefined time.
Sherpa guide is perfect in tackling each and every challenge whether it might be within the team. If you are handed the perfect Sherpa by the trekking company, you can easily complete the trip in 13-14 normal days. Partners play a vital role in affecting the duration of the trip. You need to be with them in every situation. If he/she is fine you are going to be fine and can move further to complete in the provided length of the climbing.
Conclusion
Walking 4-5 hours each day won’t be a big task for many climber enthusiasts all over the world. And if the things, weather, and climate go well, the trip can be completed in 14-15 normal days. There is more than one route to reach the peak of the Island peak. If you just want to reach the summit of the Island Peak, the trip will be 14-17 days long. Having another mindset and planning to visit other beautiful places in the Khumbu region will surely increase the number of days required for completing the Island Peak Climbing.
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