Everest Base Camp Trekking Memories

Remembering my early journeys in the Khumbu, I recall the first American ascent of Mt. Everest by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld, who made an epic traverse—also the first—from the West Ridge, summiting via the North Face and descending on the Southeast Ridge and South Col in 1963. I was friends with these two great mountaineers. These are some of my stories of the trek to Everest Base Camp.

Early Treks to Everest Base Camp

Today most treks to Everest Base Camp begin with a short flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, a hillside Sherpa village perched at 9,000 feet, high above the Dudh Khosi River, flowing from Mt. Everest’s Khumbu glacier. But it was not until 1971 that flying to this mountain airstrip, envisioned by Sir Edmund Hillary, became the gateway for trekkers visiting the Everest region. Before the airstrip, pioneering climbers and trekkers hiked for two weeks eastward along the lower hills to reach the Khumbu Valley.

A Journey to Namche Bazaar

In 1971 I was in Kathmandu, Nepal, scouting new treks and planning travel arrangements when I was offered a seat on a flight to Lukla and a short trek to Namche Bazaar, the head village of the Sherpa people. The flight was on a Swiss Pilatus Porter, a special STOL aircraft (Short Take Off and Landing) owned by the United Nations. The pilot was a very friendly Swiss named Emil Wick, who had flown this plane, the only one in Asia, to Nepal from Europe!

Sitting next to him in the passenger seat, I had a bird’s eye view flying alongside the 100-mile-long snow and ice crest of the highest peaks on earth. It was totally subliminal and mesmerizing to see so many Himalayan snowcapped mountains from left to right of the plane’s window. Everest appeared towards the end, a snow plume streaming off the summit. After we descended, the scenery turned green, forests appeared and we touched down on what seemed like a very small landing strip: Lukla airport! The experience of flying on such a small plane next to giant mountains was truly exhilarating and beyond amazing!

Once on the ground, I was met by several Sherpas who gave me white scarves (khatta) and led me to a local tea house for snacks and a welcome speech. Shortly thereafter I was ready to go. Seized by a strong urge to start moving, I slung my day pack on, and took off with Sherpa Pasang Kami, who would act as my trek guide and companion. I had time for a two-day visit to Namche Bazaar’s market day, where I met many of our future Sherpa guides.

The Sherpas are some of the friendliest and hardworking people I’ve known, always with a smile on their face, and they also love singing and dancing.

Trekking to Everest Base Camp

Later on, I flew again to Lukla with a group by Pilatus plane for a long trek into the upper Khumbu region to the base camp of Everest. Our group greatly enjoyed having Tenzing Norgay as our guest, who had summited Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. He brought his two young boys along, Norbu and Jamling.

After the 2-day trek to Namche Bazaar (11,286′), we continued on to the Buddhist monastery of Tengboche, where we were invited for Tibetan tea by the abbot, Ngawang Tenzin Rimpoche, a much revered lama and spiritual head of the Sherpas. The high, snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas were all around us and were awe inspiring. We camped there next to the monastery.

Scenes from the EBC Trail

Beyond the temple of Tengboche, the trek veers from open fields to a forest of tall dense rhododendrons, blooming with crimson trusses, named Lali Guran, the national flower. This was overwhelmingly glorious, and a hike I still remember vividly.

Not long after, the land opened, and we saw mainly young Sherpa women working in the fields bringing in the potato harvest. Yes potatoes, this was the mainstay of the Sherpa diet at that time.

The trekking economy had just started to bring cash trade to the local inhabitants, who lived largely in a subsistence economy of  potatoes, millet and barley, with an occasional serving of yak meat, from a yak who had died and had fallen off a trail (as Buddhists, the Sherpas are mostly vegetarians; they do not kill, but an animal that dies falling off the trail would be consumed.)

Medevac at Sixteen Thousand Feet

Continuing on our trek we arrived at the village of Dingboche, in the upper region at the foot of Mt Everest. After spending the night in Sona Ishi’s house, we continued to the next stop at the Lobuche refuge, (16,200′) where a Russian climbing team preparing for their Everest ascent was hosting a lively party, with many people drinking vodka. So we camped there.

That night, I came down with a deep cough and cold, and had difficulty breathing, so the next morning I decided to return to Dingboche village where my Sherpa friend Sona Ishi hosted me again. That night he had to get up, bring me a lantern and spare oxygen. I managed some sleep, but the following day he loaded me on his horse and took me to the clinic at Pheriche, a nearby settlement.

There, a New Zealand medic on duty examined me and said, “you better get down …we have a helicopter here now, ready to return empty to Kathmandu.” Wow, such luck…and so that trek ended there for me. Looking out the window, with a last glance to Everest, Khumbu and Sherpa land I was lucky to be evacuated so quickly.

Meanwhile the group continued from Lobuche to the base camp, hiked up spectacular Kala Patthar at 18,500 feet for a view of the summit of Everest, the Khumbu icefall and glacier, and that unrivalled panorama of the highest mountains in the world.

Everest Base Camp Trekking Then & Now

Now, nearly 60 years after those early visits, the trek to EBC is still basically unchanged except for a larger number of eager trekkers and climbers on the trail; the new lodgings that have been built which eliminate the need for camping, and new bridges with strong metal cables that provide safer, steadier crossings of the Dudh Khosi River. Helicopters flights are also a popular way to reach Lukla, an alternative to the 20-seat Twin Otter craft and other small planes now flying this route.

In the early days of trekking, we were alone on the trail, had our meals while camped in the fields near the villages. Today you can stay in comfortable Sherpa lodges, an unimaginable comfort now, as I recall those visits of so long ago. No need to camp on this trail any longer!

Now it is your turn to head up the mountain, reaching Lukla and Namche Bazaar, and trek to Everest Base Camp.

If you would like to follow in Leo Le Bon’s footsteps to explore these timeless places yourself, check out our Nepal hiking trips here.

For more from Leo Le Bon on adventure travel, order a copy of his legacy memoir Trail Blazing the Unknown at www.wanderlustconsulting.com

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