Basic alpine
PD+ — glacier plus a steep fixed-line headwall
Glacier travel: crampons, ice axe, rope teams.
12–16 days
Permit or guide required
NMA climbing permit plus national-park fees, arranged through an agency.
Chhukhung (via Lukla)
Crowds: high · most parties climb guided
Spring and autumn trekking seasons. Autumn brings the clearest skies; spring is warmer with rhododendrons on the approach.
Island Peak is the natural graduation from trekking to mountaineering: two weeks acclimatising along the Everest Base Camp trail, then a summit day that crosses a ladder-and-rope glacier and climbs a 100 m headwall on fixed lines to a ridge with Lhotse's south face filling the sky. The climbing is brief but honest — jumar technique and crampon confidence make the difference.
The highest of Nepal's trekking peaks — maximum altitude for minimum technicality, with a five-8,000er view.
The classic first 7,000er — technically moderate slopes where altitude and weather do all the fighting.
The most beautiful mountain in the Khumbu — and a genuinely technical prize for experienced alpinists.