Lhotse Expedition

Climbers were not paying any interest to Lhotse obvious because of the height of Mt. Everest. On the race to climb Mt. Everest from the Tibet side – as Nepal was restricted to foreigners to travel – 1921 expedition team reached to North Col in which George Mallory explored the Col between Mt. Pumori and Lingtren, West Cwm, and Khumbu Valley. They were convinced that the north route was feasible and viable given to the Khumbu valley filled with sea of ice.

 In 1950 Bill Tillman and American Dr. Charles Houston explored Mt. Everest and Khumbu valley. They concluded that unstable icefall below the Cwm was an impossible barrier to climb the mountain. In 1951 under the leadership of Eric Shipton few climbers walked across the icefall and reached the Western Cwm for the first time.

The Swiss team became the first humans to reach Western Cwm in which they crossed the Lhotse Glacier, and reached the historic landmark of South Col in 1952.

Everest expedition was a failed attempt for Swiss in 1952 – spring and autumn both season attempts as they were permitted for both – and they were seeking a third chance.

In 1955 Dyhrenfurth Senior and Junior applied and attempted for Mt. Lhotse peak climbing but forced to return after having reached a height of around 8,100 m/ 26,575 ft. on the Lhotse.

Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research started working on a new project for 1956 in which the plan of 1954 of conducting research altered into a mountain-climbing. The aim was to climb Everest for the second time after British expedition of 1953 and climb the Lhotse for the first time. So they were looking for Everest Lhotse Expedition jointly as the mountains share the same geography and initial route.

Finally, on the May18th 1956 climbers Mr. Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss from Switzerland stood on summit of Mt. Lhotse.

The first attempt of Lhotse Shar was carried out by a Japanese expedition in 1965 but reached the summit in 1970 by an Austrian expedition. Likewise, the Middle height of Lhotse was unclimbed until 2001, in which the Russian expedition reached the top.

Satori Adventures offers unrivaled Mt. Lhotse Expedition services with a high level of competency, safety measures, and comfort as Mt. Lhotse Guided Expeditions. We are attentive to the smaller size of the climbing groups to bring you successfully to the top. What we are different from many commercial teams and expeditions is our efficient management due to group size.

What climbing history and our own previous experiences teach us that Mt. Lhotse is extremely technical compared to Mt. Manaslu, Mt. Everest, and Mt. Makalu. So, we operate expeditions with professional management and excellent care.

Serious climbing requiring plenty of food supplies and equipment’s is accomplished through the armies of porters to Base Camp – known as Everest Base Camp since Lhotse climbing route  shares the same route to the Everest for the initial part – and Sherpa guides carrying foods, ropes, ladders, and equipment to high camps. Thus, our entire crew makes you patiently wait, acclimatize at the camps, and go for the summit of the peak.

You will be served with fresh and nutritious food at Base Camp in our Base Camp service and hygienic and nutritious food above Base camp for full board service. You will get sufficient masks, regulators, and bottles of Oxygen for your successful climb.

Our climbing Sherpas are the most seasoned, highly professional, experienced, and trained in the western standard. They are known for their personalized care and professional assistance. We are synonymous with seasoned expedition operations in the Himalayas with a safe climbing environment equipped with highly experienced Sherpas, sophisticated equipment, and unparalleled management abilities. Our Mt. Lhotse Expedition cost is affordable and very competitive compared with many operators with maximum success rate.

Your Mt. Lhotse Guided expedition 2024 – the life time adventure trip – starts from arriving in Kathmandu and trekking to the Everest Base Camp passing various beautiful Sherpa settlements. The unique feature of this Mt. Lhotse expedition is crossing over the notorious Khumbu Icefall and climbing the infamous Lhotse wall. Our Lhotse climbing map follows the same route to Everest Expedition’s South Col route in which you climb up to the Yellow Band beyond Camp 3 and make a traverse towards the couloir on the right direction. 

If you want to know more about the Mt. Lhotse climbing season, Lhotse Expedition Info, Lhotse Guided Expeditions, and other Lhotse Climbing news you can write to us without any hesitation. Our expert advisors are always willing to satisfy you from the beginning to the end.

Most of the climbers have a question: How hard (technical) to climb Mt. Lhotse? How easy or how difficult to climb Mt. Lhotse or any other mountain can only be said in comparison with other 8000m or the same level of height mountain. It also depends on climber’s physical fitness, previous climbing experiences, weather, age, quality of personal climbing equipment, the experience of climbing Sherpa guide, reputation and background of the operator and climbing season as well.

Many expedition operators and as well as climbers mention in their Webpages and blog that climbing Mount Lhotse is a technical and challenging climbing. Actually the climbing Lhotse is more difficult than what it appears in various documents, advertisement brochures, and social media. In fact none of 8000m mountain expedition is easy to climb. Mountaineering is one of the challenging adventure games where many climbers lost their lives each year. However, in comparison with K2, Annapurna first and Kanchenjunga, the Lhotse expedition is considered to be less challenging mountains of 8000meters located in Nepal Himalayas.

According to Nepali belief, God dwells in the mountains, and by worshiping God it is expected safe passage to the summit. So, prior to the expedition, we organize a pooja/worshipping ceremony wishing a successful summit. You have a day or two in the Lhotse Base camp for acclimatization, training, and preparation of the climb of Mt. Lhotse.

Lhotse Advanced Base Camp is located at a height of 5200m/17060 ft. which are also called Everest base camp while both mountain camps are located at the same place and point. After two or three days of rest and preparation at the Mt. Lhotse Base camp, you set out for the first and second base camp for acclimatization. On average, it takes three and a half hours for a climbing Sherpa guide and four to five hours approximately for you in the first time to reach Camp-I from the Advance base camp.

After the first 15-20 minutes of varied sizes rock and snow climb (It depends where you fixed the Lhotse base camp while it is a big size of Khumbu glassier but we have calculate central of Lhotse base camp), a steep path of 15-20 degrees climbing, you reach the bottom of Khumbu Icefall. From this point in the Mt. Lhotse climbing route, you have to ascend and cross Vertical, horizontal, and flat snow wall and cross 6-9ladder (depends on the snow condition and each  year situations)  in between Base camp and Camp one.  The Snow wall is 35-50 degrees slope. It takes about three and half hours to cross the Khumbu Icefall section and you reach to camp one area.  From this the point, it takes about 20 minute’s snow slope of some 15-20 degrees to reach Camp-1, located at the height of 5,900 m/ 19,357 ft. typically Camp-I is safe from avalanches or rock-falling.

From camp 1, it takes about three hours ascends to reach camp 2, if you are a climber with average stamina. It depends on your acclimatization, weather condition, physical fitness, and walking pace. After an hour of snow uphill in 25-30 degrees ice wall slope, and another 30 minutes of the rough climb you reach sections which pose challenges for climbers. The journey between Camp-1 and Camp-2 is considered to be a moderate part of the Lhotse expedition. There is one Ice Crevasse in this Lhotse climbing route. Climbing rope fixing team fixes the ladder 1 places (it depends on climbing season and year) to cross these crevasses. The ladder is in flat Steep in between 2.5-3 meters distance of Crevasse

Mt. Lhotse camp 2 and Everest camp 2 is also located at the same place and point. Satori adventures have kitchen and dining arrangements at camp two where we are able to provide fresh cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner including all kinds of hot drinks. There is a totally fixed-rope route line between camps one and 2. Camp II is located at the height of 6,400m/20,997ft., which is also a safe location as the campsites of the Everest south col wall. There are totally Small and large sizes of stones and if there is snowfall then-new snows at the Lhotse Camp-2, climbing Sherpa’s guides fix the  Dining tent, kitchen tent and member tent here to provide more quality of service.

The Mount Lhotse climbing from Camp 2 (C2) to Camp 3 (C3) is safe and comparatively easy to climb. It takes about three hours for average stamina climbers to climb this section. After two hours of walking above the snow slope about 15-20 degrees, you will arrive at the rope fixing section was about 100 m high vertical Ice slope below C3 and takes about 30 minutes to climb. This place is very steep with snow and ice. Since there are many climbers to climb Mt. Everest and Lhotse in the spring, not all climbers have enough space for Siberia. For the same reason, the third base should be made by clearing the snow and breaking the ice.  Lhotse Camp-3 is pitched at an elevation of 6,900m / 22,638 ft.

From Camp 3, it takes about four and a half hours climbing to reach camp 4 (C4) for average stamina climbers. This duration can fluctuate depending upon how many climbers are there at a time to carry out their climbing. If there are many climbers ascending and descending and traffic is bad then it may take 6-8 hours because the climbing route from the advance base camp of Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse to the fourth camp (just below camp four) is the same for both the mountains. About 380 climbers on Mount Everest and 100 climbers on Lhotse and the same number of Sherpa guides strive for a successful ascent each spring season. The climbing route is a more vertical snow wall in this part, and with a limited Anker that can be used to either ascend or descend by one climber at a time in Yellow band.  Lhotse camp – 4 is also set up above the Ice. The Lhotse 4th base camp is also steep and ice-fearing, so space should be made and placed on the snow. Lhotse Camp 4 fixed about height of 7,925 m/ 25,984 ft.

The Lhotse climbing route from the fourth camp to the mount Lhotse summit is smooth and safe except in Couloir below the summit where you have to walk and spent 6 hours to ascend and 4 hours to descend. We advise climbers to bring and wear a helmet as there is a greater risk of small rocks and ice fragments falling from the summit in this area. As per our previous experience, almost 90% of climber use Oxygen in this summit part. That might be the reason that climbers feel easy to ascend.  You may start at about 23:00 Pm to 00:00 am for the Lhotse summit target by 07:00 to 08:00 am. That means the distance between Camp 4 to Summit of Mt. Lhotse is an average of 08-09 hours of climbing distance – not fixed to any climber and it’s all approximate to the climber with average climbing stamina. It takes about 4-6 hours of descent from the summit to Camp four.

About one and half an hour ascending from the Lhotse Camp 4 you reach the vertical snow wall climbing place, which is about 45-50m to even 60 degrees of slope gorge between two hills. After crossing this vertical snow wall with fixed static rope, you ascend six to seven-hour further.  Almost from here to just below the real Summit of Lhotse 8516m/27940ft. approximately, it takes about 30 minute’s average pace of 50 degrees of the vertical route to stand on the top of the mount Lhotse summit at a height of 8516m/27940ft. The rope fixing team always fixes the rope line from C4 to summit completely for safety reasons. The space on the Mt. Lhotse summit point is really narrow even hard to accommodate 2-3 climbers together. This is why sometimes there is long traffic on summit queues.   

If you are a climber with good stamina, then you can descend all the way down to Camp 3 or even Camp 2 the same day from the summit. If you are a climber of average stamina then you can descend down to Camp 4 and then next day to Camp 2 and to the Advance Base camp the subsequent day.

Base Camp at 5,364 m/ 17,598 ft.
Lhotse Base Camp is located at an altitude of 5200m/17,598 ft in a moving glacier where you spend most of your climbing period. This is the same base camp for Mt. Everest south face climb since the same route goes until Camp IV or South Col.
As the ice moves and melts, tents and camps keep on shifting and moving in this camp. The camp area is beautifully surrounded by the peaks Pumori, Lo-La, Nuptse and Khumbu Icefall. The busy season of spring is like a tented town or village. You reach at this Base Camp after nine days trek through beautiful landscapes, and scattered Sherpa villages – which are the world famous for their climbing contributions in the Himalayas.

Camp I (C1)- 5,943 m/ 19,498 ft
Camp I is located in a deep snow’s small section often called as ‘Silent Valley’ in which you spend few nights during acclimatization. The section from Base Camp to Camp I is the most technical part where you are to cross the notorious Khumbu Icefall – like a real horror-chamber of an amusement park. The Icefall is some 2000 ft. of moving ice where deep crevasses and towering ice serac located that can challenge you anytime. The serac can crack and section can crack any time making another crevasse while you are walking

Camp II (C2) – 6,400 m/ 20,997 ft
Camp II is located in a safe and sheltered place at a rocky patch at the foot of Icy Everest south and Lhotse Wall. To reach to Camp II you walk through famous Western Cwm – the glacial valley. The view of Lhotse is tremendous from here. This camp is set as the climbing camp with individual climber’s tent. You will be here in this camp most of the time after Base Camp. Satori adventure will provided kitchen arrangement here where you will receive fresh cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner including all kind of hot drinks like tea, coffee, hot chocolates etc.

Camp III (C3) – 7,162 m/ 23,497 ft
Camp III is pitched in the Wall of the Lhotse face. Everest climber also shares this wall to climb their peak. It is difficult section as well in the Lhotse face. You start to feel the effect of high altitude and not using supplemental oxygen yet. This face is steep, and the ice is hard. You climb on a fixed rope in the slope of some 30 to 45 degrees. It’s a long climb to C3 and a must for the acclimatization prior to summit bid. You will spend a night here before reached at camp 4and one tough for acclimatization rotation before summit push.

Camp IV (C4) – 7,920 m/ 25,984ft.
This camp is located near south part of South Col – a plateau that resembles a moonscape with Everest to the north and Lhotse to the south. This is the last camp before the summit push and reachable for some climbers without supplemental oxygen. As you climb steep in the Lhotse Wall, you reach Yellow Band from where the route to Everest climbing diverges. You veer to the right known as turtle shell – some rock shelves – where we establish the Lhotse Camp IV at 7,920 m.

Summit Mt. Lhotse 8,516m/27, 940ft. /10-16 hours
You enter into half a kilometer high ice gully leading to the final summit ridge. Lhotse Couloir is narrow and steep as well with some 60 degrees slope. It takes about 6-8 hours on ascending and 4-5 hours to descending. This part is risk for rock and ice peace falling from Lhotse summit. So we advise climber to wear the helmet mandatory.  There is the section of knife edge ridge just before you reach the summit. Enjoy the moment on the summit point. And, then climb down to Camp II. The summit day is often to sixteen hours.

Satori Adventures’ climbing Sherpas guide:
We operate our expedition in the Himalayas with well-trained Sherpas of western standard born and raised in the foothills of the Himalayas. Their excellence and glorious climbing history need no more explanation. Our Sherpas have climbed Everest and other peaks in the Himalayas of all heights multiple times, and prove themselves to be the best climbers and Leader/guide.
Our Sherpas will make sure that cooperation with other Sherpas from different companies and Base Camp organizations is intact. It is essential that all climbing teams work together in the Himalayas with proper contribution from all operators on the tasks such as route fixing and ensuring safety of climbers from Base to the summit. Our Sherpas lead in these efforts. With all these arrangements and management our Guided Lhotse Expedition stands one of the best climbing trips in the Himalayas.

Choose an experienced provider
It is important for each climber to choose the right expedition guide service that not only suites their needs, but provides the best safely and secure mountaineering experience possible. There are more than 1,700 trekking companies in Nepal who offer 8,000 meter expeditions including Everest, but only about 30 companies who operate 8,000 meter peaks on a regular basis. We are proud to be one of these 30 companies and consistently offer, run and succeed at these types of expeditions year after year.

It is very important that the climbers who choose Satori Adventures for this trip of a lifetime experience have expectations that are compatible with the program we offer and the style of expedition Satori Adventures runs. We do not want to simply “fill our expedition”, but instead we want to comprise a team of companionable people who are focused on reaching the summit with the highest level of support and safety standards that can be provided by a guiding service on Mt Everest. We team this with the best standards of food and quality equipment to further assist each client reach their full potential. We feel that we offer the best environment and opportunity for you to be successful on the world’s highest mountain.

Diminutive climbing team members
We are always striving to develop and grow our operational systems to ensure you get the best possible experience. Our expedition members do not deserve anything less than the best possible conditions and opportunity to be successful. We do this by limiting our team size, which makes us more flexible as a team and helps ensure the team has the best weather windows for a summit push. We also try to develop an atmosphere where members feel that they are climbing as a family with each guide Sherpa and team member working together and striving for a common goal.We generally accept a maximum of 8 climbers in a group and if we get more than 8, we will spit the team into two or more groups.

We provide maximum summit success
The Satori Adventures methodology and tactical approach to climbing Mt. Everest has seen us achieve the highest success rates. Our extensive experience gives us the edge when it comes to making tactical decisions. We provide a consistently higher Sherpa and Guide ratio than any other operator, resulting in more support and backup for your summit attempt, which provides a greater safety margin and chance of success. We always provide a 1:1 ratio of client to Sherpa/guide.

We provide highly qualified Team leader/Sindar
Many of our guides are professionally trained and assessed from the Nepal Mountaineering Association, the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), American Mountain Guides Association or other professional training association. These results in our guides have a greater repertoire of skills that enables them to provide a dedicated level of security to you during the expedition. Most of our guides also have been guiding in the Himalaya range for many years and have numerous 8,000 meter summits to their credit and at-least 3 years’ experience guiding on Mt. Everest

We provide the highest quality camp facilities and food
Satori Adventures provides the best possible camp facilities, food and service. Our expedition cooks are regarded as the best in the business; provide healthy and appetizing meals with an array of menus to suit all your nutrition requirements. Our cooks provide meals that are designed to sustain your body for the rigouts of the ascent. We also provide diverse choices to suite Vegetarian, Vegan, Indian, or any specified requests; if you do have a special nutritional request, please let us know 60 days prior to the start of your expedition so we can plan accordingly.

Approaches to advance base camp:
Mount Makalu is difficult to climb on its own, but the chances of avalanches and rockfalls are relatively low. It is also safe because there are no craves as in the climbing route in Makalu. After a two-day staying at Kathmandu and final preparations including climbing equipment, climbing permits, high-altitude foods, etc., we proceed to fly from Kathmandu to Tumlingtar and trek to advance base camp of Makalu Himal. 

It takes about 09 days trekking from Tumlingtar onwards to Makalu base camp. You will trek first night at Seduwa, second-day Tashogapum, Khongma Danda, Dobasto to Ngla kharka.  After a rest and acclimatize day at a height of 3600M of Tangla kharke you will reach to Nanmala Kharka and then advance base camp height of 5018m.