Island Peak (Imja Tse) · Lobuche East · Ama Dablam
Recommended season
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When not to go
June to August for the monsoon and December to February for deep winter. Neither window is climbed on these peaks.
April to May, or October to November — both work for Island Peak, Lobuche East and Ama Dablam alike. They are not equivalent, though. Autumn is the more settled weather and the more popular season, which now means crowding on Ama Dablam: expeditions that cannot run on the 8,000ers move here, and that is more teams on the same fixed lines. Spring is the quieter of the two for exactly the same reason. For Lobuche East specifically the autumn window is roughly 15 September to 20 November.
After a mountaineering certification in India, I flew to Nepal for a roughly three-week expedition. Instead of the standard three passes most Everest Base Camp trekkers add to their itinerary, I added three peaks above 6,000m instead: Island Peak, Lobuche East, and an attempt on Ama Dablam - alongside the classic EBC trek itself.
Two weeks in, with Island Peak and Lobuche East both summited and the body acclimatized, I reached Ama Dablam's base camp. Unlike the other peaks, which top out after a few hours of climbing, Ama Dablam demands three grueling days, sleeping in tents pitched on exposed cliff faces - the kind of place you don't actually sleep. Unseasonal snow had frozen the fixed ropes and buried sections of the route, so we waited four days for a single-day weather window and decided to take our shot regardless.
Day one: up to Camp 1 at 5,800m. Day two, planned for four hours, took seven - partly because sections normally climbed on bare rock needed crampons and snow travel instead, partly because we got stuck behind a slow-moving group struggling with the exposure. Day three, we left just before midnight to chase the weather window: from the start, the ropes and route were buried and hard to find, and my guide and I had to dig parts of them out of the snow ourselves. Every half hour we hit a point we were sure was the end of the line - and somehow kept finding a way through, until 6,193m, just short of Mushroom Ridge — the section everyone climbs to reach the summit. The snow there had frozen and taken the fixed ropes with it. On that day there was simply no realistic way through, so we turned back.
Disappointed, yes - but for the first time, I looked at a mountain I hadn't summited and realized I'd found what I came for anyway. You can't fight the mountain. It'll still be there long after we're gone.
The Map
How to read this map
The orange line — every step walked, as the GPS recorded it
Each dot on it — one day. Tap one to see what happened that day
A filled dot — there's a clip from that day
3DThe 3D button — real satellite terrain, with the villages and huts named
Lukla → a small village at 2,654 m
I got up early to reach the company I had booked the trek with. From there they took me to the airfield along with four other Israelis, and we got on a helicopter to Lukla — the place every trek in the Everest region starts from.
The day itself was short, with a fairly easy walk that ended in a small village. I slept there with the Israelis I had met on the helicopter, and I will probably be with them over the next few days. Good crowd, and they have a really nice guide who has already started helping me find and book places even though he doesn't have to.
It's good to be back in the mountains. Feels like I've returned to where I belong.
Day 02April 23
Namche Bazaar, and above 3,000 m
From the village (2,647 m) → Namche Bazaar (3,359 m)
After a good night's sleep I carried on to Namche Bazaar, the main town of the region. The higher you go, the more expensive things get and the less available they are. At first there are places where wifi and charging cost nothing and the food is fresh and cheap, but everything higher up has to arrive on somebody's back, and the price climbs with the altitude. The Israelis' guide gave me some tips for further along — where you can no longer shower or where it costs a fortune, and where it's better not to eat meat.
From today I started doing the walks alone, because I like to go at my own pace. In the evenings I would meet the group at the places they recommended. Today was steep and long, we crossed 3,000 m, and the altitude is starting to make itself felt.
On the way I crossed a lot of rivers and bridges, and saw a huge number of porters. A porter is the person who carries the equipment and supplies up the valley, and in a region with no roads he is the infrastructure itself. People walk with planks twice their own length and with loads that can reach, from what I was told, 100 kg in a day. It's simply mad to see how strong the locals here are.
When I got to Namche I was surprised by how organised everything is. It looked like a village in Europe.
Day 03April 24
The first acclimatisation day
Namche Bazaar (3,545 m) → a viewpoint at 3,860 m → back to Namche
My first acclimatisation day. I slept in Namche, took a small pack and climbed for about two hours to a viewpoint you can see Everest from, along with other impressive mountains all around, and then came back down to sleep in the same town I had set out from.
Above 3,000 m you have to start building in acclimatisation days. The rule I tried to keep to is not to raise your sleeping altitude by more than 500 m in a day, and if you want to be exposed to something higher — climb to it during the day and come down to sleep lower. The body needs time, and there is no real way to shorten that part.
A short, enjoyable day that ended playing snooker with the Israeli guys. From tomorrow we carry on up.
Day 04April 25
A long day, and the first drizzle
Namche Bazaar (3,404 m) → a village at 3,955 m
A long walking day, and today brought the first drizzle on the route. I'm already starting to feel the effects of the thin air.
It's important to walk at an easy, comfortable pace and not push the body to its limit, at least in the first days, to save energy for what actually matters to me here — the summits. You can already see the prices going up and the conditions coming down.
On the way I stopped for lunch right outside an impressive monastery. On the whole a fairly simple, enjoyable day, full of climbing.
Day 05April 26
An acclimatisation walk to 5,100 m
(3,950 m) → Dingboche (4,289 m), with a climb to 4,994 m
I arrived at a relatively developed village, from which showering gets really difficult and you have to be careful with food. I finished the day fairly early, around ten, and went out for another acclimatisation walk to one of the nearby peaks at 5,100 m.
I felt good, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Most people stay in the village an extra day and do the acclimatisation walk the following morning, the way I did at Namche on the third day. The village itself sits at 4,400, so from the start of the day that's a climb of around 1,000 m — a lot for one day.
The view was worth it. I finished the day at the best-known café in the area, and I'd recommend anyone to get there — good coffee, good pastries, good food generally. A bit of comfort before I carry on up and get closer to my first summit.
Day 06April 27
Chukhung, and a climb to Chukhung Ri
Dingboche (4,350 m) → Chukhung (4,798 m), with a climb to Chukhung Ri (5,580 m)
A busy, fairly long day. A walk to Chukhung at 4,700, the village I leave from tomorrow for the camp below my first summit, and from there another acclimatisation walk the same day up to Chukhung Ri — a nearby peak at 5,600.
The altitude is starting to be noticeable. The day ended badly: at night I got stomach pains, as though I'd eaten something off. I ate something sweet and drank a lot of water and it began to pass, but I found it hard to eat the normal food they bring.
I don't think it's altitude sickness. I think I got dehydrated — it had been an intense day and I hadn't eaten enough. I hope I feel better tomorrow and can carry on to the camp.
Island Peak
Day 07April 28
Island Peak Base Camp
Chukhung (4,746 m) → Island Peak Base Camp (5,093 m)
I woke up feeling good and decided to carry on to the camp. Tomorrow before dawn I set out for the summit.
I met my guide — an incredible guy who does all the peaks here on a daily basis and nothing seems to faze him. We got to Island Peak Base Camp at 5,100, and went over the knots I need to know.
I went to rest early. It was hard to fall asleep because of the altitude and the thin air, but I was full of excitement before my first summit above 6,000 m. I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow.
Day 08April 29
Island Peak, the first summit above 6,000 m
Island Peak Base Camp (5,131 m) → Island Peak (6,141 m) → Dingboche (4,367 m)
First summit above 6,000 m, and it was brutal. My body still wasn't acclimatised enough, and I barely slept the night before. We set out at 01:00, and snow fell on us through the first hours of the climb.
We reached the summit around 07:00, after more than 1,000 m of ascent. On a long section I used a Jumar on fixed rope, on ground far steeper than I'd expected. A Jumar is a mechanical ascender that locks on the rope when you load it and slides when you push it upward, which is how you climb a steep section once the rope is already fixed to the route. I'd been told Island Peak counts as a relatively simple summit, so I hadn't expected those parts to feel like that. In hindsight it was excellent preparation for the summits to come.
Luckily, just as we reached the top everything cleared. We stayed about half an hour and took in the view. Endless snow-covered peaks through 360 degrees, whichever way you look. Without question the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
The descent was long, steep and a bit demoralising, with the body already exhausted and the sun starting to warm things up. We glissaded down the snow wherever we could and walked the rest. The fresh snow from the night began to melt and everything got more slippery, so I had to stay focused even when all I wanted was to get down.
I did the first 700 m of the ascent in my running shoes and only then changed into mountain boots with crampons. When we came back down to collect the shoes, they were still frozen from the snow.
We were back at Base Camp around 09:30. I ate something small, packed my things and set off fast for Dingboche. I already knew the village and liked it, and mostly I was looking forward to the café, to the first shower in days, and to putting some energy back before the next summit.
A long, exhausting day, but I got through it well.
Lobuche East
Day 09April 30
An easy day, and the body settling into the altitude
Dingboche (4,372 m) → Pyramid (5,000 m)
An easy day. I slept well and let myself get up late so the body could rest as much as it needed, and then started walking to Lobuche at 5,000.
My body already feels really good with the altitude. After the summit day I feel acclimatised and the walking is more comfortable. I found a good place on the recommendation of the group I'd been with in the first days.
The weather has turned bad. Hopefully it goes smoothly over the next few days — I'm heading for Everest Base Camp, the place every trekker wants to reach, and for the second summit: Lobuche East.
Day 10May 1
Everest Base Camp, and a second night at Pyramid
Pyramid (5,080 m) → Everest Base Camp (5,372 m) → back to Pyramid (5,092 m)
I'm planning to sleep another night at Pyramid, where I slept yesterday, and carry on tomorrow to the second summit. It's actually a meteorological station rather than a guesthouse. I got a good deal there, and even though the place is packed the manager sorted me a room at short notice. Really cool place with a really nice manager.
I went to see Everest Base Camp. It took me about five hours with short stops. Luckily there was sun all morning, though it was very windy, and later in the day a lot of snow came down again.
Base Camp wasn't anything impressive or special — just another rock the whole world comes to be photographed with. But in the future I want to be one of the people who are there waiting for a window to climb Everest itself.
Tomorrow I plan to carry on to the second summit. I'm a bit anxious about it and hoping the weather is on my side and not full of snow, but I'm trying to stay positive. I've been moving around above 5,000 for a few days now and I feel more acclimatised with every day.
Day 11May 2
The high camp on Lobuche East
Pyramid (4,997 m) → Lobuche East High Camp (5,183 m)
I left Pyramid for the high camp on Lobuche East at 5,400. I met the guide around 10:30, and luckily it's the same guide who already knows me from the previous summit. After I spoke to him he even gave up another summit with a different client.
The man is simply mad. He walks with a cigarette in his mouth while I can barely keep up with him, and he makes it look so easy. None of these summits would have been possible without the Nepalis. He told me this peak is easier and that we climb less of it because the camp is higher — but for an ordinary person like me it still doesn't feel as simple as he describes.
Compared with the last summit I've almost no headaches now, maybe just slightly. I've got a lot of appetite, which I didn't have before, and the body feels strong. I think this will be good preparation for Ama Dablam.
There's been a lot of snow these past days, and today we walked to the camp in it too. Not much fun, especially in trainers.
Day 12May 3
Lobuche East, the second summit
Lobuche East High Camp (5,180 m) → Lobuche East (5,859 m) → Pyramid (5,148 m)
I got up at 01:15 and we set out an hour later. It was colder than usual, and I decided this was the first day for the thermal layer. That was a good call.
I felt good and acclimatised and managed to sleep reasonably well even at altitude. We climbed fast and passed a few people on the way. There was a lot of snow from the last days and a lot of quite steep sections where I used the Jumar, but the overall feeling was good, and I got another beautiful sunrise out of it.
We came down fast and I ate quickly. I wanted to get to Pyramid as fast as I could to rest properly before starting the walk to my last summit — the one all this preparation had been for.
Pyramid was fairly empty compared with the previous times, really quiet. The only problem is that I have to do laundry, everything already stinks, and the rainy weather of the last days left most of my gear soaked. Hopefully tomorrow I deal with all of it and reset my kit so I can carry on properly. I'll take an easy day in a café and a good shower.
I'm getting close to the toughest part of this trip. Anxious and excited at the same time. The body feels ready and I hope it holds for the last stretch.
Day 13May 4
Laundry day in Dingboche
Pyramid (5,153 m) → Dingboche (4,503 m)
I started early for Dingboche. I'd been looking forward to going to my favourite café and resting properly.
After a good shower I did laundry. They even do the washing at the café, and they have a dryer — something I hadn't seen anywhere in the area. Most places hang things outside, and that's a problem when it's been raining for days. So it all worked out.
A low-gear day before I meet my guide tomorrow for the final and hardest act.
Ama Dablam
Day 14May 5
Ama Dablam Base Camp, and the waiting begins
Dingboche (4,473 m) → Ama Dablam Base Camp (4,733 m)
Today I reached Base Camp, stopping on the way to collect my small bag, which has nothing in it except the crampons I'm going to climb with. They take up a lot of room and there was no point carrying them until now. The climb to the camp at 4,600 was fairly steep, but the body genuinely feels good and ready after two weeks at altitude.
I met my guide, 22 years old, who has already climbed the high mountains in Nepal. The food and the treatment at the camp are genuinely good. Apart from there being no shower, everything is at a high standard and there are chef-cooked meals.
Now all that's left is to wait for a good window to go up. The plan is three days up and two down, because the route is steep and technical, so it gets broken up. We're also not doing rotations — repeated climbs to the high camps and back down for acclimatisation — because I'm already acclimatised from the previous summits. I'm going to be sleeping in some wild places, from what I've seen before.
Unfortunately the weather has been terrible for over a week and it's snowing non-stop. Tomorrow will definitely be bad, so it'll be a rest day, and then we'll sit down and look at every possible window we could use.
My leg has started to ache a bit from the load, which is natural with everything the body's been through. I hope I sleep well and that it passes before we start climbing.
Day 15May 6
Snow all day
Ama Dablam Base Camp — a waiting day
It snowed all day today. We only walked over for coffee at the compound the people who spend more money on the climb go to. They have showers there and actual buildings to sleep in, not tents like mine. I think it takes something away from the atmosphere and the experience of the climb, but in the end everyone has their own way of doing things.
There's signal there too, so I updated everyone that all is well and roughly what the schedule is.
I hope the weather improves over the coming days and we can climb. I can't wait for it any more, but you have to be patient. Here you have to be far more calculated than on the previous summits, because if there's a lot of snow there's a chance the route will be blocked. I've already met a few people who tried for the summit and turned back. I'm trying to stay positive and respect the conditions the mountain is giving me.
Day 16May 7
Checking forecasts
Ama Dablam Base Camp — a waiting day
We carry on resting and checking the weather. Not too much today — it's still snowing non-stop. There might be a window in another two days to start climbing, so we're checking as many weather sites as we can to confirm it.
There's an American guy sleeping in the tent next to mine who's waiting to climb too. He still has to do acclimatisation rotations so he has time, and he brought a Starlink — so now we have signal in the tents as well.
Day 17May 8
Stocking Camp 1
Ama Dablam Base Camp — a waiting day
Today my guide went up to leave equipment at Camp 1, so we'd have supplies for the days we're climbing. The approach is fairly hard and we look after ourselves, so you have to go and put things there in advance. It simply makes the walk on the climbing day easier, because you're carrying a fair amount of gear and food as it is.
There's a good window of opportunity in four days. What we were looking for in the first two days is less critical — if the weather isn't perfect on the way up it makes it harder, but it's not the end of the world. What matters is that the day you go for the summit is a good one.
Tomorrow we start up to Camp 1. Excited to finally get going.
Day 18May 9
Up to Camp 1
Ama Dablam Base Camp (4,596 m) → Camp 1 (5,790 m)
We started walking up to Camp 1. It was a wet, stormy day, and I hadn't expected it to be that brutal. With all the snow everything is more slippery and you have to walk more carefully, which draws the day out.
The tents were unbelievably cramped because they were full of stuff. I hadn't thought it would be set up like that on rock — half the time you're just looking for an angle without a stone in your back. But that's part of the game.
Now the real challenge has started. The altitude isn't really affecting me, I feel properly acclimatised. The camp is at about 5,800, and we had a bit of roped climbing that set the tone for tomorrow, which should be a hard climb to Camp 2.
Day 19May 10
Camp 2, on a cliff
Camp 1 (5,812 m) → Camp 2 (6,070 m)
The sleep was so-so, but the view from the cliff we're sleeping on is unreal.
We set off for Camp 2, and unluckily got stuck behind a group of Russians with a woman who was genuinely frightened of heights. Everything was very steep, and it's no fun for anyone who isn't comfortable hanging in the air. A route we'd planned to do in four hours took over seven, which cut into our rest before the attempt tonight.
Today we passed the Yellow Tower, a famous section on the way to the summit. The position of Camp 2 really is a stunning place — sleeping on a wild cliff with barely room for two tents, on a pile of rocks you can't properly sleep on. The camp is around 6,000 m, and the altitude doesn't really affect me except that I tire a bit faster.
Today I felt the difference in difficulty from the last summits I'd done. This really is a mountain you have to come to prepared and with experience, and some say it's even harder than Everest. Because of the snowy weather of the past week, areas that normally have no snow at all are buried in it and that makes the climbing harder. My guide told me it's really not typical for the season and we just landed on bad timing — usually there's no snow at all until past Camp 2. You work with what you've got.
It feels like all the preparation and everything I did to get past those fears is paying off.
Day 20May 11
Summit day, and turning back
Camp 2 (5,990 m) → 6,193 m → Ama Dablam Base Camp (4,572 m)
A summit day that started badly. My guide woke up with stomach trouble, which slowed the pace right down. Even to me it felt slow, we were stopping to rest constantly. And the funny thing is he didn't think to say anything about it — only after we'd set off did I notice something was wrong, and then he told me. That's also why we left at 00:30 instead of 22:30 as we'd originally planned.
The whole way was full of snow that had built up over the last days. The ropes we use to climb, which also mark where the route goes, were buried under it. Again and again we reached a point where we thought there was no way to carry on, and then we dug and tried to free them or rig some substitute.
At least I managed to sleep two hours before we set out, in the strangest position I've ever fallen asleep in. I also felt really good and strong, and that all the days of physical and mental preparation had paid off. The whole way it looked as though we wouldn't make it to the end, but I kept trying to stay optimistic and focus on the next step and the next problem in front of me.
We turned back right before a section called Mushroom Ridge, because all the snow had frozen and the ropes had frozen with it and underneath it, which makes the crossing dangerous.
But in the middle of not finishing this mountain, I wasn't angry and I wasn't sad, because I suddenly understood something important. How much I'd developed and got past my fears, how much stronger I'd become, and how far the fear of heights I've dealt with my whole life had gone. Over the past weeks I'd been hanging off cliffs, walking in places where there's a drop on both sides and one wrong step could end badly — something that a few years back would have seemed inconceivable to me. What a thing it is to get past fears that used to paralyse you. That was really the whole point of this: to prove to myself that I could.
Maybe I didn't finish this mountain, but that's how nature is. Sometimes it plays games with you and you have to learn to accept it. Like in life, you have to learn to control only what's in your control and think as little as possible about what isn't. I hope I get the chance to try to take this mountain again, but what's certain is that I proved to myself that I'm bigger than my fears.
When we started down the way was awful. A day that began at 00:00 only ended at 17:00, and the hardest thing was water and food. We ran out of both and were left with only sweet drinks, so I drank a lot of cola and felt dehydrated with my throat drying out. I just wanted to reach camp, and I felt like I was walking like a zombie.
Whether I reached the summit or not — I felt I'd given everything I had.
The way down
Day 21May 12
Down to Namche
Ama Dablam Base Camp (4,566 m) → Namche Bazaar (3,532 m)
I slept like a king after my body had been broken, and then had a very long day to Namche.
I'd thought the walk would be simpler, but there were a lot of ups and downs and it took me quite a while to get there. My body started to feel all the difficulty and the weight of the last weeks.
I'm looking forward to getting back to Kathmandu, sorting all my things out and thinking about what I do next.
Day 22May 13
The last walking day, back to Lukla
Namche Bazaar (3,398 m) → Lukla (2,863 m)
The last walking day, long and brutal, back to Lukla — where the helicopter dropped me off. The pack felt heavier than at any point on the trip, and there were a lot of long descents that were hard on the body.
All I wanted was a shower. Towards evening I reached a hotel with a real, boiling-hot shower, and met a Nepali guy who invited me to sit and have a beer with him.
Good day. Looking forward to getting back to Kathmandu tomorrow.
Day 23May 14
Stuck in Lukla, and what comes next
Lukla — flights cancelled
I woke up with the energy to get to Kathmandu and get organised, but because it was overcast and raining all the flights for the day were cancelled. Which means I'm stuck here until it clears.
In the meantime I decided on the next objective: fly to Thailand and do a Divemaster course, after not having dived at all for a few years, since I got my two stars in Eilat. Already excited for the next adventure and to see Thailand.
The next day everything worked out with the weather and I headed to Kathmandu for a day of packing and returning the gear I'd rented, before flying out the day after.