LHOTSE NEWS and PHOTOS of our April 2026 EXPEDITION

Please scroll down for latest news and photos.

15 April - Most of us slept fairly well last night. Warm and toasty. Those of us who did not are going to the Dingboche Hospital to get checked out by the famous Dr. Abhyu today. After breakfast we divide ourselves into 2 groups. Group 1 sets off with a water bottle and warm jacket and snacks to do an acclimatization hike up to 5000 metres on Nangkartsang Ridge, which divides the Dingboche and Pheriche Valleys. We ascend this grassy – rocky ridge up long slopes, some steep and some less so. There are four flat terraces – steps, forming natural rest points. At each point we can see more and more of the beautiful Himalayan Peaks and Valleys which are everywhere all around us. Too numerous to mention, its really hard to grasp it all. The hill steepens. We sip water and munch on power bars. Its sunny and a bit breezy and little chilly all at the same time, if you can catch my drift. Now it feels harder to breathe. Puff Puff Puff, Pant Pant Pant. Slowly Slowly, feels like we are walking through Jello. Right at the top now, there is really nowhere else higher to go, lots of prayer flags on poles, big boulders. More photos, fingers a bit stiff to work the camera. Few sips of water, bites of energy bar, group photo, lets get out of here and head back down to town and hit a bakery for cappuccino and fresh cheesy croissants, mmmm. Group 2 heads over to the hospital. We register with the front desk and our group are third in queue. When its our turn we enter a darkened room, wallpapered in paisley, of all things. A young tall handsome doctor motions us to sit down and he begins asking English questions about our specifics and writing down our answers on a long paper. His questions are quite detailed. He takes a lot of notes, his spoken and English language is perfect. He takes our vital signs with different instruments. He is very methodical and very polite. He explains what he is doing, before he does it, for example, he says: “May I take your blood pressure?”. He doesn’t just reach out and do it. He carefully explains his diagnosis, treatment plan, and list of prescribed medications. Now our checkup is finished. We go outside to meet the receptionist, who takes our money and hands us the medicines while the receptionist carefully explains when and how to take the pills. The medicines are surprisingly inexpensive. Now we are finished and its time to go. A pleasant and very helpful – healthful experience to be sure. Later we are informed that this doctor has been working here for 7 years and may be the best in the Khumbu Valley. It really seems true. Later on we meet up for lunch and after lunch we wander around town and explore more bakeries, take pictures of yaks and chill out in our rooms napping on comfortable beds under warm blankets with sun streaming over us through clean windows . Great Day!

Caption : Members at Dingboche. Photo : Andy, Dan.

Caption : Our stronge and friendly sherpas enjoying for photo pose. Photo : Povilas L, Igor.

Caption : Andrew and Tenji. Photo : Andy.

Caption : Dingboche hiking. Photo : Tenji.

Cpation : Pangboche and AmaDablam. Photo : Igor K.

14 April - Today we wake up in Pangboche Sonam Lodge a bit late and a bit sore from yesterday’s big walk. After a generous breakfast in the dining room with massive plate glass window views of the now sparkling clear, but cloud top tufted Everest Massif and Ama Dablam, the best views of any dining room in the Khumbu, we prepare to head up to the Pangboche Monastery to receive our blessing for this expedition and trek we are currently on. We each buy a prayer scarf “Katta” and roll a few hundred rupee notes inside. Walking up through old Pangboche village we pass swelling piles of hand carved mani prayer stones, each the Size of a pizza or so, yet much thicker. Each pile could contain 100 mani stones or more. There is an abundance of tall fat Juniper trees here; Sherpas have been living in this well protected alpine bowl since 1586, which is right around the time the Sherpas came over from Tibet. In fact Sherpa means “Eastern People” in Tibetan language. Our brief good morning walk ends at the Pangboche monastery. We remove our shoes, buy our tickets and pad up the narrow stairway to check out the ancient prayer hall. Walls covered in hand painted scenes of deities, glass panels on one side behind which are some very golden elaborately decorated statues. One highlight is a small locked wooden box bolted to a pillar. A monk opens the box to reveal a preserved yeti’s scalp and hand. Shocking. Taken aback, not sure what to think about this. Time to climb a wee windy stairway to the upper floor. This room is lined with scary looking masks, statues of golden deities looking benevolently out from behind glass panels. One highlight is a pillar covered a massive stack of prayer shawls, which when lifted aside, reveals ancient armaments: swords, knives, helmets, shields. At the end of the room a blanket wrapped Lama sits cross legged on a raised dais. We perch on cushions around him. He begins chanting, murmuring, and banging on his big hanging drum. Thump Thump Thump. The acred smell of incense fills the air. From time to time he stops to sprinkle water with a peacock feather, toss handfuls of rice up into the air, play a small double sided handheld prayer drum. Tik tok, tik tok, tik tok. Our sherpas fill pots with rice wine and hold them aloft. After a bit, each of us kneel before the lama and present our prayer scarf to him, he shakes out the donation, says some special chants and carefully, delicately places the glistening white scarf over our head. We put our palms together and stand up. Fully blessed, and in a sort of peaceful state approaching shock, we file out of the darkened temple into bright sunlight and walk along the perimeter of the building spinning 100s of small copper prayer wheels set into the wall. They twirl with a rattling noise. We enter a small tall well decorated red building containing an enormous larger than life prayer wheel. Grabbing handles at its base we walk around in a clockwise direction as the prayer wheel spins. Upon each rotation, a bell rings, perhaps reminding us how many times we have completed our journey around, lest we become disoriented in the peace of the moment. We climb a steep hill behind the monastery up through grandmotherly junipers to visit the 8 metre high Guru Rinpoche statue, topped with an elaborate crown, holding a tall spear, wearing ancient clothing made from the land, guarded by snarling dragons, festooned with massive jewels. What a spot for a group photo, Ama Dablam, Everest, Nuptse with wind blasted clouds tearing through them. A powerful sight and humbling feeling indeed. We feel small, yet amazed to be here, and ready for our next steps. It’s time to begin today’s short trek up to Dingboche Village. Let’s go!

Video : Ang Dorji.

Caption : Luke, Charlotte and Margaret in Puja. Photo : Dan.

Caption : Calen, Andy, Cal, Vibhu in Puja. Photo : Dan.

Caption : Team photo of Everest Massif and Ama Dablam from giant Guru Rinpoche Statue at the top of Pangboche. Waiting our turn to go inside at Pongboche Monastery Photo : Dan.

13 April - After staying up a bit late last night to honour the passing of one of the world’s greatest singers, Ms. Aasha Bhosle, and each of us sharing some of our favorite music and songs from around the world, we climbed into bed for a cozy sleep beneath puffy blankets. We could hear peaceful snoring through thin walls. This morning we arise early for our big day. We quickly eat a big breakfast and pack up, ready for a big day of trekking, our human batteries recharged after yesterday’s rejuvenating rest. Our host Mr. Lhakpa lights the incense burner to wish us a safe journey and the beautiful smell of burning Juniper wafts over us as we set off up the trail. One of our Everest climbing team members did not sleep well, so he is staying behind with his Sherpa to visit the Namche Doctor for a checkup. His plan is to recover in the comfort and warmth of Namche before heading higher. There is no rush, as we have 60 days for our expedition and we want him to get healthy before ascending higher. That fits in with one of the mottos of our expedition: “Arrive Alive”. Don’t stumble into camp and collapse into your tent as if some kind of wrecked basket case. Now our hiking team is ready and we begin our walk along a sunny warm rolling path with amazing views of Ama Dablam and the Everest Massif. We walk through peaceful pine forests, winding around steep mountain sides high above the Dudh Khosi River Gorge far below. Then we drop. Far far down, into the Gorge itself. We come to Fungki Thangka, a small group of terraced teahouses under an ancient huge Hemlock Tree, beside the rushing river and just below a chain of water powered prayer wheels cascading down the hill above us. Its time for a delicious fried noodle and cheese lunch and a place to kick our feet up and bask in the sun. Now we are ready to go. Through an Army checkpost where they check our paperwork and write down our names in a book. Now we are hiking up a brutal hill. This hill is very tough, seemingly never ending, with so many switchbacks. We are shuffling uphill, panting, step by step, our breathing is heavy and hearts are pounding, still we manage to go on. The hiking is difficult, one foot in front of the other, but Rhododendron trees here are blooming bright red and pink, giving us visual encouragement with such beauty flickering through the foliage all around us. Thankfully after several grueling hours, we top out on the hill at Tengboche Monastery, really the biggest monastery in the Khumbu, with large dragons guarding its gates and a huge prayer hall inside. Its like we are inside an enormous mountain pass. Looking up valley we can see Ama Dablam and the Everest Massif. Looking down we can see all the way toward Namche, Phakding and Lukla. Mt Thamserku looms directly above us like an icy dragon. A commanding spot to be sure. Monks are blowing their long brass trumpets and rhythmically banging on drums. It’s a prayer ceremony known as a Puja. A little lower down the pass there is a group of restaurants and we head there for a fine cup of cappuccino and freshly baked chocolate cake on an outdoor terrace, surrounded by this massive monastery and these towering peaks with the sound track of the prayer ceremony flowing around us. Ok, break time is over. Time to get going, time is wasting, we aren’t there yet. We head down hill, toward Everest, through Rhodendron forests, hoping to spot a rare endangered musk deer, down to the village of Deboche. Visiting the Women’s Monastery, we see that all of the buildings are locked up and it looks as if the gardens have not been planted. Carrying on we cross high walls above the river and through the narrow needle’s eye-like cliffs of Deboche Gorge on a bouncing suspension bridge and then its time for an uphill hike (yes yet another hill) on wide and well graded trails, up through the Pangboche gate. We are in scrubby small juniper tree/bushes now, almost above the treeline. A few curves in the trail and we are so relieved to see the potato fields of Pangboche stretching out widely to our right, on very broad earthen benches above the river. We enter town and the trail winds past many teahouses and swelling piles of carved Mani stones. We cross a final stream and come to our teahouse for the night: Sonam Lodge. The dining room is warm and cozy with big windows, the rooms are comfortable with attached baths and the food is superb, prepared by our skillful hosts Yangjie and Gyermen. Their daughter Shyang Angmo is home form Namche School for the holidays. She’s entertaining us with funny games on paper and her mobile. At one point she traces a picture of the Guru Rimpoche Statue which sits on the hill top above town. We’ll see that tomorrow! Well today was a very challenging day. But rewarding. Perhaps we might say: where there is adversity, there is strength. Lets see how we sleep tonight!

Photo : Igor.

Photo : Ang Dorji.

Photo : Igor K.

12 April : Today our Everest Member Vibhu is helping write our dispatch. Thanks Vibhu!! Now is our rest and refreshment day, well deserved after yesterday’s big climb. It is so gorgeous this morning: Incredible views of high altitude jutting ice peak Kwangde Ri hit by golden sunlight through slowly churning clouds makes us feel so tiny down here in Namche. A cup of coffee and tea with such a vista is the perfect start of our lazy recuperation day. After appetizing breakfast of cheese omelets and Tibetan fried bread we drop off laundry and then set off on a morning stroll up to Everest View Hotel, in a quest for our first views of Mt Everest. The hike is short but steep. Panting ensues, but high spirits make the time fly by and soon our entire group is at the top. Congratulations Team! The Weather Gods are kind to bathe us in bright sun as we settle down at the Everest Hotel terrace for a rich cappuccino. Cloudy curtains open and close, allowing us brief shimmering glimpses of mighty Mounts Thamserku and Kusum Kanguru. The highlight is Mt Ama Dablam poking unexpectedly out of the clouds. Such a tall but delicate mountain beauty, perfectly shaped: pointy yet expansive. Clouds are a bit uncooperative today and are keeping Everest hidden from us. We can’t see her, but somehow we feel the power of mighty Mount Everest drawing us to her. We visit the Sagarmatha Next Museum to see the recycling displays and watch the interesting movies about climbing and Sherpas. Ok friends, lets head back down to Hilltop Lodge, just in time for delicious lunch and hot drinks. This afternoon we walk down to Namche, relishing the luxuries of Spa, Bakery, Coffees, Pubs, and Shopping. We all are meeting up NOW back at the Hilltop Lodge to celebrate our friend Luke’s Birthday. Luke is a member of our Everest Base Camp Family Trek. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!!! What a lucky place to be for your birthday. Everyone, lets dig into this delicious chocolate cake. Yummm!

Caption : Happy Birthday Luke. Photo Charlotte.

Caption: Hilltop Lodge Lhakpa Sherpa. Photo : Dan.

Photo : Vibhu J.

Caption : What are unique ways to manage waste in the Everest region? Everest Base Camp Trek members are in Namche. Photo : Ang Dorji, Igor K.

Caption : The Namche Bazaar. Photo Sange.

Caption : What a great way to take a break! Please advise a good caption for this photo. Photo : Ang Dorji.

Caption : Team at Hill top. Photo : Tenji.

Caption : Enjoying beautiful day at Namche. Photo : Dan.

Caption : Toktak and Phakding.

11 April : Today we enjoy a delicious breakfast and begin hiking through sunlit forests, flowering Rhododendron trees, waterfalls and tiny terraced villages in the Dudh Khosi River Valley. Inside a narrow cliff lined gorge, we come to the National Park Gate in Monjo Village. An epic moment in our Everest Base Camp trek to be sure. Now we are in Sagarmatha National Park. Welcome Everyone! We eat lunch at the cute Buddha Lodge where three lovely Sherpa women attentively prepare us a delicious lunch of momo dumplings, potato chips french fries and salad. We eat and drink heartily and then set off up valley to cross a precarious cable swinging bridge high above the confluence of the Bhote Khosi river coming from Tibet and the Dudh Khosi River from Everest Nepal. We climb the mighty Namche Hill, through whispering pines on a well maintained trail laden with switchbacks. Working our way to the top, we are treated with views of snowy peaks and the steep precipices at the base of Kwangde Massif, festooned with hanging frozen waterfalls melting into lacey spray. Finally, after a grueling uphill trek, we reach Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Khumbu Sherpa People. A gorgeous water park greets us with rushing streams, waterpowered prayer wheels, and statues of famous Sherpa heroes. We head straight into a local café to feast on freshly brewed cappuccino, chocolate cake and pepperoni mushroom pizza. Enjoying our café’s sunny balcony, we watch the streets of Namche teem with trekkers, porters, jingling yaks; perfect people watching. The final hill climb up to our hotel reminds us where we are, and eventually we reach our rest spot for tonight, the lovely Hilltop Lodge, perched in yak pastures just above town. The sun sets over the mountains, and we are plunged into chilly twilight. Lets head inside now to get warm by the fire. Thanks for following our trip

Caption : One of the many suspension bridge.

Video : Sange

Caption : Sagarmatha Nation park gate at Jorsale. It is a small Sherpa village in the Khumbu region of Nepal, located at 2,740 meters (8,990 feet) on the banks of the Dudh Koshi River. Photo : Igor K

Video : Sange

Photo : Ang Dorje.

Photo : Sange S.

10 April : We flew from Kathmandu to Lukla by helicopter. There were no fixed wing airplane flights today due to clouds. Many of our bags arrived, some did not. Later in the day all of our bags finally arrived. A few of our Sherpas couldn’t fly, they will tomorrow. We trekked down to Zamfute, arriving just before dark and stayed in the lovely Sonam Guesthouse in amongst tall pines. It didn’t rain today, so the trekking was nice and dry. Everyone is feeling well, albeit a bit tired from waking up at 5am. Looking forward to a good nights sleep.

Photo : Igor K, Dan.

Video : Calen.

Photo : Igor K

9 April : We had our team briefing at the Harati Manor Inn and packed all of our bags for trekking and climbing. We enjoyed a wonderful group dinner at one of Thamel’s best restaurants.

Photo : Calen, Igor K.

8 April : our climbing and trekking teams arrived in Kathmandu and we checked their gear and went for shopping and renting gear, especially the high altitude down and 8000 metre boots.

Caption : Team trekked to monkey temple this morning. Beautiful ! Photo : Calen.

Caption : Preparing expedition medical kits. Photo : Dan.

7 April - Thamel - The vibrant heart of Kathmandu buzzes with energy as SummitClimb Everest & Lhotse team members explore the mountaineering shop, preparing for the journey ahead. From technical gear to last-minute essentials, every step through these lively streets brings the expedition closer to the world’s highest peaks.

Caption : Climbing Members at kathmandu trekking shop.

Caption : Boarding our flight with a few expedition bags. At HKG Airport. Photo : Dan.

Lhotse / Everest Training Team Roster -

Dmitri N. - USA
Cal C. - Ireland
Rytis N - Lithuania
Timothy A. - UK

Sherpas And Staff -

Gombu Sherpa
Dawa Sherpa
Sabin Magar
Gelji Sherpa (Small)

x +