Day-to-day Itinerary
A note about this itinerary: We generally complete our trip in the prescribed days, but we have built extra days here that may or may not be used. This schedule is intended to be flexible.
Day 1
Depart home country.
Day 2
Transit.
Day 3
Arrive in Kathmandu. You will be picked up at the airport and driven to the Yak & Yeti hotel. We will have a group welcome dinner and orientation.
Day 4
Equipment check, then city tour of Kathmandu.
Days 5-7
Rest day/visa process in Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.
Day 8
Drive to Timure.
Day 9
Cross border and drive to Kriyong.
Day 10
Acclimatize in Kriyong.
Day 11
Drive to the small village of Tingri. We go for a short acclimatization hike and have a spectacular view of Cho Oyu, as well as Everest from the Northern side.
Day 12
Spend the day in Tingri to acclimatize and get ready for the climb.
Day 13
Drive to trailhead (initial base camp), camp and organize gear.
Day 14
Today we hike to the intermediate camp.
Days 15 – 17
Trek to base camp, set up camp, and acclimatization hikes. Once at Base Camp, we’ll meet our Tibetan yak drivers and their animals. Yaks carry our loads to Advanced Base Camp (18,500 ft.) at the foot of the famous Nangpa-La Pass.
Days 18 – 38
Climb Cho-Oyu.
We will spend the next three or four days establishing Advanced Base Camp and making short acclimatization forays to the lower reaches of the West Ridge. With the assistance of our Sherpa team, we’ll place Camp I (21,000 ft.) atop the West Ridge. Over the next 10 days, we’ll establish Camp II (23,100 ft.) and Camp III (24,500 ft.). We will repeatedly move up and down the mountain to enhance strong acclimatization and overall fitness. Once our last camp is set and the team has rested for a few days at Advanced Base Camp, we’ll begin the summit climb. Prior to our summit attempt, team members will spend the night at Camp III sleeping on supplemental oxygen, strengthening the body’s circulation systems.
Our summit attempt begins between midnight and 1 a.m. We will climb with supplemental oxygen on summit day. From High Camp, we’ll ascend the West Face through a rock band and up snow slopes of 25 to 40 degrees to reach the West Ridge proper. This gentle ridge leads to the large summit plateau at approximately 26,000 ft. From there, we’ll spend the next hour traveling across this plateau to reach the true summit and a spectacular 360 degree view that includes Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and an array of Himalayan peaks. To the north lies the Tibetan plateau (the highest in the world), and to the south stand hundreds of Nepalese peaks.
After reaching the summit, our team will descend to Camp II. It takes approximately five days to clear the mountain and move equipment back to Base Camp.
Days 39 – 41
Return to base camp. Once we have arrived at Base Camp and said farewell to our Tibetan yak drivers, we’ll begin our return to Kathmandu. Make way back to Kathmandu via Kerung.
Day 42
Depart Kathmandu for home country.
Day 43
Arrive in home country.
Please ensure that this departure date (Day 42) is flexible. Do not plan any important business for two weeks following the expedition, and ensure that your plane ticket is changeable.
I thoroughly enjoyed the expedition. Everyone was very supportive, considerate, and caring to the climbers on the expedition. Even though this is the first AA expedition where I did not summit, I will say it was one of my favorite in large part due to Ben, Lakpa, and Tshering.
