Peak climbing
Your first Himalayan summit
Trekking peaks are the step between the teahouse trails and real mountaineering — and with the right crew, that step is yours to take.
The step up
Between trekking and mountaineering
Between the teahouse trails and the 8,000-metre giants sits a family of mountains Nepal calls trekking peaks: summits of roughly 5,500 to 6,500 metres, listed by the Nepal Mountaineering Association, that a fit trekker can climb with a guide, a rope and a fortnight.
You walk in on trails you may already know — the Everest Base Camp route, the wild Hinku valley — acclimatizing the way a trek does. Then the trip changes character: a tented camp, a training day on the ropes, and a pre-dawn summit push on crampons under more stars than you have ever seen.
No previous mountaineering is required on the peaks we guide. What matters is altitude experience, honest fitness and patience with mountain weather — everything technical is taught before you need it.
Trekking peaks at a glance
- NMA-listed summits
- 5,500–6,500 m
- Fixed-rope protected
- No prior climbing required
- Teahouse approach, tented camps
6,476
metres — the summit of Mera Peak, the highest trekking peak in Nepal and the top of our climbing programme
Beyond trekking
How a climbing trip differs
A 1:2 climbing sherpa ratio
One climbing sherpa for every two climbers above base camp — fixing the route, checking your knots and setting the pace on the ropes.
A training day on the ropes
Before any summit push, a dedicated day at base camp: jumar, abseil, cramponing and rope-team travel, practised on real slopes until automatic.
Gear, sorted
Group climbing gear — ropes, anchors, tents, expedition kitchen — is included. Personal kit such as double boots, crampons and harness is rentable in Kathmandu.
Insurance to 6,500 m
Trekking policies usually stop at 6,000 m. Your cover must state 6,500 m with helicopter evacuation — we check every certificate before departure.
The climbs
Island Peak and Mera Peak
Both run on the same system: full acclimatization built into the approach, a 1:2 climbing sherpa ratio above base camp, and a reserve day held for the summit.
Tailor-made
Other peaks, on request
Lobuche East, Pisang and the quieter NMA peaks run as tailor-made expeditions on the same system — tell us your dates and the summit on your mind.
Before you commit
Are you ready to climb?
No previous mountaineering is required on the peaks we guide. This is what we look for instead — and if you can tick most of it, the rest is trainable in a season.
Not sure? Ask a guideA high trek behind you. You have slept above 4,000 m before — Everest Base Camp or the Annapurna Circuit is the ideal rehearsal.
Comfort with long days. Six to seven hours of walking, day after day, feels normal rather than heroic. Summit day roughly doubles it.
Four months of training. Twice-weekly hill or stair sessions with a loaded pack from about sixteen weeks out, plus steady endurance work.
A steady head for exposure. Fixed ropes protect the steep ground, but you are happy on airy ridges. Crampon and rope skills are taught, never assumed.
The right insurance. A policy covering climbing to 6,500 m with helicopter evacuation — trekking-only cover is not enough.
Patience with the mountain. Every climb carries a reserve day, and summits are never guaranteed on a fixed date. The weather signs off on the plan, not us.
Start planning
Your summit is waiting
Tell us your dates, your trekking history and the peak you have in mind — a climbing guide who has stood on it replies within a day.