Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Escape Plan
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Events
    • Shop
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Escape Plan
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Events
    • Shop
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
👤

THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE FOR EXPATS, DIGITAL NOMADS, AND DREAMERS.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Your Escape Plan

The Route to Everest

  • BY Jack Wheeler
  • June 1, 2019
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

All photos by Jack Wheeler

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Everyone has heard of the Himalayas and Mount Everest in particular. Yet most everyone has only a vague understanding of the most famous and highest mountain range on earth, and where the great mountains among them are in relation to each other.  

Over the next three weeks, your understanding will become clear, no longer vague. This week, we’ll explore the route to Everest.

The Himalayas are primarily in Nepal, with four of the highest – Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu – on the border with Chinese Tibet. Thus, you can trek to or climb them from either the Nepali (south) or Tibetan (north) side.  

The Route to Everest

This week, we’ll explore the route to Everest and its sister peak of Lhotse via Cho Oyu in Nepal. From Cho Oyu flows the largest glacier in the Nepali Himalayas, the giant Ngozumpa Glacier which has a series of beautiful lakes, the Gokyo Lakes, alongside. That’s what you see in the photo above.

Looking to your right, you see the fifth Gokyo Lake and the source of the Ngozumpa, the 6th highest mountain on earth at 8,201 meters, Cho Oyu, the Turquoise Goddess in Tibetan. Up close, the sight is overwhelming.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

With the south face of the Turquoise Goddess in front of you, if you look to the right past the head of Ngozumpa, you’ll see two peaks with clouds streaming off their summits: Mount Everest and Lhotse.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Flying in our high-altitude helicopters straight for Everest, skirting the border with Tibet, we can see the entire Tibetan North Face of Everest on the left and the Nepal Southwest Face on the right. The ridge running down between them is the Tibet-Nepal border.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Closer, we peer into Tibet, glimpsing Everest’s satellite peak of Changtse and the notch of the North Col between them. To climb Everest in Tibet, you ascend to the North Col from the other side in the photo, then the Northeast Ridge, which you can see entirely on the horizon.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Closer and looking down, we see the famous Khumbu Ice Fall spilling out of the high valley, called the Western Cwm, below Everest’s Nepali side, and curving into the Khumbu Glacier. On the outside of that curve is Everest Base Camp. Note that you can only see these views of Everest from a high-altitude helicopter.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Here, we are landing on the helipad at the base of the Khumbu Ice Fall. The huge mountain above is not Everest itself, merely the Everest West Shoulder.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Yet, even though you can’t see Everest itself, nor Lhotse, from Everest-Lhotse Base Camp, it is still an extraordinary experience to be there.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

To orient ourselves, here’s a satellite photo.

The Route to Everest

We are looking from Nepal into Chinese Tibet, with the sunny Southwest Face in Nepal, the shaded East or Kangshung Face in Tibet, the North Face and the Rongbuk glacier in partial shade in Tibet, the Lhotse-Nuptse Walls facing us in the sun all in Nepal, and the shaded bowl between them and the Southwest Face is the Western Cwm.  Lhotse’s summit is above the apex of the bowl covered in a small cloud.

One way to visualize it is to cup your right hand horizontally into a reverse “C.” The first knuckle of your index finger is the summit of Everest.  The first knuckle of your thumb is the summit of Lhotse. In the web between them is the South Col. The second knuckle of your thumb is the summit of Nuptse. Inside the C is the Western Cwm. The Khumbu Ice Fall spills out of the Western Cwm and doglegs around into the Khumbu glacier.

The climbing route is over the Ice Fall, up the Western Cwm, scale the Lhotse Face to the South Col at 26,300 ft. Then ascend up the Southeast Ridge to the summit at 8,848m/29,029 ft, the highest on earth.  

No trekker ever sees any of this, as his view is blocked by the Lhotse-Nuptse Wall and Everest’s West Shoulder. The only way for a non-climber to do so is with me! We fly above the Ice Fall at 22,000 ft into the Western Cwm, with the entire Southwest Face of Everest on the left, Lhotse – the world’s 4th highest – straight ahead, and the north flank of Nuptse on the right.

It is a sight few people have ever seen, a sight that stays treasured within you for the rest of your life.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Exiting the Western Cwm over the Khumbu’s dogleg, we fly down the Khumbu Glacier to see Nuptse on our left.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Then along the Nuptse-Lhotse Wall to get up close and personal with Lhotse (8,516m/27,940ft). From summit to base, the South Face drops 11,000 feet straight down.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Our route ends with a landing at the Tengboche Monastery. That’s Ama Dablam, the Matterhorn of the Himalayas, in the near distance, and the Lhotse-Nuptse Wall in the far, with the summit of Everest barely sticking out behind.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Believe it or not, that small distant view of Mount Everest is all a trekker, spending two weeks of extraordinary effort hiking to the base camp and back, ever sees of the world’s highest and most famous mountain on earth. Here it is by telephoto.

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Tengboche is Tibetan Buddhist of the Nyingmapa (Red Hat) school, the original form of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Padmasambhava around 750 AD. Being in the presence of Mount Everest is a spiritual experience for many. It’s only appropriate we end our Route to Everest here.

 

The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler
The Route to Everest
©2019 Jack Wheeler

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava

Next week we’ll continue exploring the Himalaya’s greatest mountains. If you want to explore them for real with me this coming April, click here for details to join the Himalaya Helicopter Expedition and have the greatest one-week adventure possible on earth today.

Carpe diem. Life is short. The time for a great adventure is now.

Jack Wheeler is the founder of Wheeler Expeditions

Click here to get advance notice of expeditions you can join & stunning photos of Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventures

 

If you’re interested in buying a home abroad and want to weigh up your options, visit ECI Developments, who specialize in creating exceptional residence and resort communities across the world.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Previous Article
  • Belize

Get to Know the Best Places to Live in Belize

  • BY
  • March 1, 2019
View Post
Next Article
  • Asia

5 Tips to Ease Your Transition After Moving to Japan

  • BY mhollen
  • June 1, 2020
View Post
You May Also Like
Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
View Post
  • Mexico
Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Buying a Property abroad
View Post
  • Your Escape Plan
Why More Investors Are Buying Homes Offshore
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
View Post
  • Spain
Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • October 8, 2025
Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia
View Post
  • Second Citizenship
Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
  • BY Ethan Cohen & Learn Hungarian Anywhere
  • October 1, 2025
The Tale of the Tael - A timeless store of value across centuries
View Post
  • Finance
The Tale of the Tael’s: A Hard Lesson about Hard Money
  • BY Michael Checkan
  • September 24, 2025
Craggy cliffs and quiet harbors frame life in the Isle of Man
View Post
  • Your Escape Plan
Life and Opportunity on the Isle of Man
  • BY Aneesa Marufu
  • September 19, 2025
Central America’s strategic position is reshaping the global offshore banking map
View Post
  • Plan B
The Future of Global Finance Runs Through Central America
  • BY Luigi Wewege
  • September 17, 2025
Tokyo's infamous cherry blossoms.
View Post
  • Japan
How I Built a Life in Tokyo in 3 Months
  • BY Annie Nagel
  • September 8, 2025
Trending Posts
  • 1
    • Mexico
    Top 10 Things to Know if You’re Moving to Mexico
    • September 26, 2025
  • Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia 2
    • Second Citizenship
    Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
    • October 1, 2025
  • Abkhazia jewel of Soviet summer escapes 3
    • Field Notes
    Secrets of the Soviet Riviera
    • October 3, 2025
  • Summer in Lapland: Lapland’s wild landscapes glow under the endless Arctic sun 4
    • Field Notes
    Before the Snow Falls in Lapland
    • September 29, 2025
  • Onu building with flags under a blue sky in New York 5
    • News
    Latest News: Fault Lines, Flotillas & Frontiers
    • September 25, 2025
InterNations
Know Before You Go
  • Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City 1
    • Mexico
    Top 10 Best Places to Live in Mexico – Discover Your Ideal City
    • October 8, 2025
  • Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025 2
    • Spain
    Best Places to Live in Spain: A City-by-City Guide for 2025
    • October 8, 2025
  • Expat Child Syndrome 3
    • Wellness
    The Untold Story of Expat Kids
    • October 6, 2025
  • Abkhazia jewel of Soviet summer escapes 4
    • Field Notes
    Secrets of the Soviet Riviera
    • October 3, 2025
  • Hungarian Citizenship by Descent Journey from Amercia 5
    • Second Citizenship
    Our Journey from America to Hungarian Citizenship
    • October 1, 2025
Learn More
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Why Subscribe

The newly imagined Escape Artist brings you fresh content with a global focus, and sharp, up-to-the-minute coverage of the joys, challenges, and opportunities of life abroad.

For a limited time, we’re offering a special discount on all subscription deals, so be sure to lock-in these incredible savings and start receiving top-notch travel and expat content today!

Sign up for the EA Newsletter

Get important news delivered directly to your inbox and stay connected!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Escape Artist
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Disclaimer

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Newsletter Subscription
Our Spring Sale Has Started

You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/