Everest Base Camp Elevation

The Everest Base Camp Trek is not just a walking journey. It is a soulful excursion to the heart of the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest through serene trekking trail. The trail to the Everest Base Camp is enticing due to fluttering prayer flags, spiritual mani wheels, chill mountain air, earthly smell from alpine forests, and warm hospitality of Sherpa People. Therefore, the Everest Base Camp Trek is an epitome of all the trekking trips from across the globe. The trail has become the top activity on bucket list of many people. Lots of people are interested in this journey. The major concern during the Everest trekking journey is the altitude gain. So, this blog is about finding answers circling around the Everest Base Camp Elevation.

Find more about various aspects associated with the Everest Base Camp Elevation. It helps you a lot for proper planning of the trek. It is essential to plan properly for safety concerns. High altitude places are prone to altitude sickness. Lots of trekkers don’t make it all the way to the Everest Base Camp because of various issues. The major reason behind the unsuccessful Everest Base Camp Trek is the altitude sickness.

Please note that Mt. Everest is shared between Nepal and Tibet (Autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China). However, the summit of the mountain is in Nepal. There are two base camps of Mt. Everest. The North Everest Base Camp is in China and the South Everest Base Camp is in Nepal’s Khumbu region.

Let’s know a brief about these two base camps before going deeper into the Everest Base Camp Elevation.

North Everest Base Camp

The North Everest Base Camp is in China and it is at an altitude of 5150 m from sea level. Travelers can easily access to this base camp by road. However, the number of travelers visiting the North Everest Base camp is less than the visitors in the South Everest Base Camp. The travel restrictions and requirements in China is rigorous but Nepal is lenient and flexible to travelers from across the globe. The risk of altitude sickness is very high in the North Everest Base Camp as travelers gain elevation quickly without proper acclimatization. Lots of climbers choose the Southern side to scale Mt. Everest instead of Northern route because of difficulty and risk of altitude sickness in the climbing route.

South Everest Base Camp

The most popular base camp of Mt. Everest is the South Everest Base Camp. Therefore, the world understands the South as the main Everest Base Camp. At an altitude of 5364 m, the base camp is the pillar of the Nepalese trekking and climbing industry. It is located in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal. There is no direct access of road network to the Everest Base Camp. Trekkers have to trek for more than a week to reach the base camp. The journey starts from Lukla and traverses through various Sherpa villages before reaching the Everest Base Camp.

Everest Base Camp Elevation

The most iconic place on the earth is the summit of the world’s tallest mountain Mt. Everest. The journey to the summit starts from the Everest Base Camp. Therefore, it is the most important place where one can find lots of inner peace and the Himalayan wilderness. The Everest Base Camp Elevation is about 17598 feet which is 5364 m from sea level. The foothill of Mt. Everest is in the Khumbu glacier. The elevation gain to the top of Mt. Everest from the Everest Base Camp is 3484.86 m. It is more than halfway elevation gain on the Everest expedition journey.

Elevation Gain from Lukla to Everest Base Camp

Let’s find out more about every day elevation gain during the Everest Base Camp Trek journey. Therefore, we have kept the outline itinerary of the Everest Base Camp depicting the estimated trekking hours and elevation of each place. The maximum altitude in this trekking journey is 5545 m at Kalapathar viewpoint, which is the best place to relish of Mount Everest View with numerous peaks, glaciers and landscapes.

Here is the outline itinerary and altitude of the places.

Day 01: Arrival at TIA in Kathmandu Nepal (1345 m/4429 ft) then transfer to hotel

Day 02: Flight to Lukla (35 minutes); Trek to Phakding Village (Altitude – 2660 m/8727 ft ) 7km -3/4 hrs

Day 03: Trek from Phakding to Namche Bazaar (Altitude:3440 m/11286 )10 km – 7/8 Hours

Day 04: Acclimatization Day (Hike to Hotel Everest View & Khumjung Village (3880 m/12729 ft) – 5 km)

Day 05: Trek from Namche Bazar to Tengboche Monastery (Altitude: 3885 m/12746 ft) 9.5 km – 6-7 Hours

Day 06: Trek from Tengboche Monastery to Dingboche (Altitude: 4220 m/13845 ft) 9 km -5-6 Hours

Day 07: Acclimatization Day ( Hike to Nangkartshang Peak 5100 m/16726 ft) or Chhukung Valley) – 4/5 Hours

Day 08: Trek from Dingboche to Lobuche Village (Altitude – 4970 m/16305 ft) 6.5 km – 5/6 Hrs

Day 09: Trek from Lobuche to Gorakshep (Altitude: 5180 m/16994 ft) (3 Hrs/4 km) Hike to EBC (Altitude: 5364 m/17598 ft) 3.5km- 7/8 Hours

Day 10: Hike to Kalapathar for Sunrise (5545 m/18192 ft) 1.2km/2 hrs ): Trek to Pangboche (4005 m/13139 ft ) -17 km) 7/8 Hours

Day 11: Trek from Pangboche to Namche Bazaar (Altitude: 3440 m/11286 ft) – 19km) 7/8 Hours

Day 12: Trek from Namche Bazar to Lukla (Altitude: 2860 m/9384 ft) 17 km ) 7/8 Hours

Day 13: Flight Back to Kathmandu – 35 m (Altitude: 1350 m/4229 ft)

Day 14: Final Departure

Everest Base Camp Trek Difficulty due to Altitude

Altitude is the biggest concern for all trekkers who are trekking to the Everest Base Camp. If you overlook the altitude factor, then you may not be able to reach the base camp. You may have to cancel the ascent and return back without leaving your footprints at the base camp of the world’s tallest mountain Mt. Everest. Follow proper guidelines and itinerary to avoid any kinds of difficulties due to altitude. There are two altitude breaks in this trekking trip. The first one is at the Namche Bazaar and the second one is at the Dingboche Village.