• About The Patch Expedition
• Climbing in Aid of Unicef
• Meet The Team
  • The Patch Team
• Corporate Sponsors
  • Become a Corporate Sponsor
• Training for Everest
  • Technical
  • Physical
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
• Climb Your Own Everest
• Climbing Everest
  • Everest Facts
  • The Gear
  • The History of Everest
  • The Route
  • Altitude and Illness
    • Our Bodies and Oxygen
    • Altitude and Oxygen
    • Acclimatisation
    • The Death Zone
    • Supplemental Oxygen
    • Sickness on the Big Hill
• FAQ's

The Route

The route we'll be following is the same as that climbed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay during the first ascent of Everest in 1953. Below is a brief description of the Southeast ridge route to the summit of Everest, however for a more detailed description of the climb check out the route map on our homepage and click on tents and flag posts to bring up more information about each part of the climb.

Most expeditions climbing the Southeast ridge route of Everest start with a flight to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. From here the mountaineers catch a pretty hairy flight in a small aeroplane into Lukla, a small town in the Khumbu region of Nepal. From Lukla the trekking begins. The train of Yaks, Sherpa porters and climbers head off towards Base Camp passing through Namche Bazar, Khumjung, Tengboche, Dingboche and Lobuche each time moving higher and higher up the valley. In total the entire trek in usually takes eight to ten days so as to allow proper acclimatisation the increase in altitude and to prevent the onset of acute mountain sickness.

Once at Base Camp the climbers will rest again to allow their bodies to recover before beginning the ‘acclimatisation rounds’ up the mountain. For most climbers their acclimatisation schedule will look something like this:

• Climb from Base Camp up to Camp 1 and spend the night before returning to Base Camp
• Rest at Base Camp
• Climb from Base Camp to Camp 1 and from Camp 1 to Camp 2. Stay a night at Camp 2 before returning to Base Camp
• Rest at Base Camp
• Climb from Base Camp to Camp 1 and from Camp 1 to Camp 2. Stay a night at Camp 2 before climbing up to Camp 3. Stay a night at Camp 3 and return to Camp 2. Stay the night at Camp 2 before returning to Base Camp.
• Trek down to Dingboche, a lower altitude to help the body recover and produce red blood cells faster
• Return to Base Camp

Once the acclimatisation rounds are complete the climbers are considered ready and wait at Base Camp for a window of good weather which permits a summit attempt.

When forecasts of good weather are received the climbers begin there quest to reach the top of the world. From Base Camp the climbers move through the Khumbu Icefall, up to the Western Cwm and bypass Camp 1 as they climb straight to Camp 2. The climbers spend the night in Camp 2 before tackling the steep wall of ice known as the Lhotse Face up to Camp 3 where they spend an evening perched on small ledges chiselled out of the ice.

From Camp three the prospective summiteers then continue up the Lhotse Face, traverse the Yellow Band of sandstone and climb mixed snow, ice and rock terrain of the Geneva Spur. Atop the Geneva Spur is the South Col and Camp 4, the final camp of the Everest climb and the only one in the Death Zone. Here the climbers begin to use oxygen and spend a sleepless night waiting for they shot at the top.

The summit day starts in the early hours of the morning as the climbers set off in the dark and begin to climb up the south side of Everest. The first milestone of the day is the Balcony where the climbers turn west and head up the Southeast Ridge. At the top of the ridge is the South Summit, at this point the climbers are higher than any other mountain in the world and can see the summit proper. They can also see the most technical part of the climb, the Hillary Step, a forty foot vertical wall of rock. However, before they can even attempt the step they must first negotiate the corniced ridge, the most exposed and one of the most dangerous parts of the climb. Once over the corniced ridge and up the Hillary step the climbers are on the home straight, however it is still over an hour before they reach the summit. From the Hillary Step they move up the summit ridge and eventually they reach the summit, the highest point in the world.

However this is only half way. Climbers, exhausted from the climb and from not having any sleep or anything to eat since Camp 2 two days previous, must now climb back down the way they came. This is probably the most difficult part of the entire expedition as Hypoxia starts to take hold, daylight begins to fade and the incoming afternoon storms compound the already deadly hazards. 80% of all accidents happen on the decent so the climbers must now use all their remaining strength and concentration to return safely to Camp 4 up to 18 hours after they left.

After getting some rest the summiteers descend to back down to Camp 2 where for the first time in 3 days they can finally manage to eat some food and get some much needed sleep. From here the climbers then make there way back to Base Camp, safe at last and ready to return home victorious.