Overview

Island Peak 6160m , This Island peak is also known as Imjaste . This  More popularly known as Island Peak was first climbed in 1953 by Tenzing Sherpa, Charles Evans, Alf Gregory and Charles Wylie on their way to the ascent of Mt. Everest. Dwarfed by the massive South Face of Lhotse, Imja- Tse is an attractive peak with a highly glaciated West Face rising from the Lhotse glacier and a beautiful ridge coming to the summit from Lhotse Shar (east) 8383m./27,503ft. The continuation of this ridge from north descending south-west from the summit forms the part of normal route of ascent. It is among the most popular trekking peaks of Nepal.
After a 35 minute scenic flight from Kathmandu, we arrive in Lukla to begin the trek for this climb. We pass through the famous Sherpa town of Namche Bazar and the Tengboche monastery (the cultural / religious center for the Sherpa people of Everest region) and trek up to the Kalapathar for a closer view of Mt. Everest before arriving at the Imja Tse base camp. This pre climb trek which is also intended to aid our acclimatization process is a leisurely 10 day walk from Lukla. The site for our base camp is at Pareshaya Gyab (5,087m / 15,518ft.) between Imja Tse and Imja Glacier.

Our climbing route on Island peak is via the south-east flank and south-west ridge. We set-up a higher base camp at 5,280m./17,323ft near a hanging glacier. From this high base camp, we make an early morning start for the summit. On our way to the summit, we pass through a snow field with some crevasses and a somewhat steep snow face (about 100m / 300ft) with blue ice leading to the summit ridge. We put a fix rope on this section to safety and to aid our ascent. The view from the summit ridge is among the most striking scenery in the Everest region. The most impressive is the massive Nuptse – Lhotse massif on the north and the impressive north ridge of Amadablam on the south-east. On the east, rising above the Lhotse Shar Glacier, is Cho-Polu (6,734m./22,093ft.) beyond which can be seen the red granite mass of Makalu (8.475m. /27,805ft.).

After the climb Island peak , we retrace our footsteps back to Lukla and take a plane to Kathmandu to end this trip.