Himalayan Windhorse’s special package of double 8000 meters.
This Expedition is designed for those who are willing to make double 8000ers at once, which carries out high elevations including ascents of Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse. These two 8000m shares the same route of Khumbu icefall till S-Col (7890m), thus climbers can make another additional ascent after climbing the first one.
Peak XV was renamed after Sir George Everest as Mount Everest, the name given in his honor, who was a lead surveyor in 1856. Sir George was a Welsh Surveyor; he was the surveyor-general of India for thirteen years from 1830. Everest has fascinated mountaineers all around the globe since the 1920s when Tibet opened climbing in the early 1920s. In 1922 British Expedition team led by Charles Bruce tried to scale the summit of Mount Everest for the first time. It was Edward Norton in his second attempt along with the British Expedition team set the height of 8572m. The mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared on the third attempt. Mallory’s body was found in 1999. There were several attempts made to Everest before the successful attempt made by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa on 29 May 1953 via the South route. It is now reported that around 1000 ascent attempts are made every year.
We will take the southern route to the summit. This trip suits those who have previous experiences of a few 7000m peaks or even more. The real trek starts from the Base Camp and to reach the base camp takes you around 7 days on foot. We will move on to Camp I (6,065m) where we will see the Khumbu glacier. From Khumbu Glacier, it is around 450m on a gradual slope to Camp II (6,750m) and around 610m to Camp III (7,100m). Camp III is located at the head of Lhotse. From this point onwards, you will need oxygen cylinders. You will reach Camp IV (7,910m) after just crossing 8000m elevations. This point is also known as the Death Zone.
Mt Lhotse stands at 8516 M, making it the fourth highest mountain in the world. It is situated at the border of Tibet and Nepal. Its long east-west crest is located immediately south of Mount Everest, and the South Col, a vertical ridge that never drops below 8,000m, connects the summits of the two mountains. Lhotse has three summits: Lhotse Main 8516m, Lhotse Shar 8383m and Lhotse Middle or East 8413m.
Sometimes mistakenly Lhotse has been identified as the south peak of the Everest massif. No serious attention was given to climbing Lhotse until Everest had finally ascended. Lhotse first climbed in 1956 as an alternative route toward the summit of Everest.
Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger who were part of a Swiss expedition first climbed Main Lhotse in 1956. Sepp Mayerl and Rolf Walter first climbed Lhotse Shar on 5 December 1979, by taking the SE-ridge.
A deep scar, an icy gully known as the Lhotse Couloir, marks The West Face of Lhotse; the couloir is the crucial test for the Lhotse climb, mainly because the climbing conditions of the couloir are affected by weather and seasonal snowfall.
The route progresses through Khumbu icefall. Moving further, we will reach Camp 1 which exists at the top of Khumbu icefall that is surrounded by crevasses. From Camp 1, we will pass through lateral moraine to the west ridge that greets us with a close-up view of Lhotse. This place is perfect for Camp2. Leaving Camp2, we will reach near to Lhotse wall by crossing glaciers and ice cliffs where we will set Camp3. Camp4 is located near South Col. From Camp 4, we will proceed through steep rock sections to the summit.