Trek plus a summit
Everest Base Camp with Island Peak: the last day is a climb, not a walk
This trip is the ordinary walk to Everest Base Camp with a mountaineering day bolted onto it. Island Peak, also called Imja Tse, tops out at 6,189 m (20,305 ft), which is 644 m (2,113 ft) higher than the highest point the trek itself reaches. On summit day you wear crampons, you clip a harness to a fixed rope on a steep headwall, and you start walking hours before it is light. If you have never done any of that, this is not the trip to learn it on.
The trip
It is the base camp trek, then a separate mountain on the end of it
Most of this trip is the Everest Base Camp trek. Same flight into Lukla at 2,860 m (9,383 ft), same climb to Namche Bazaar at 3,440 m (11,286 ft), same nights at Tengboche and Dingboche, same base camp at 5,364 m (17,598 ft), same cold morning on Kala Patthar at 5,545 m (18,192 ft). Then you turn east, up the Imja valley, and climb a mountain.
The climbing part starts at Chhukung at 4,730 m (15,518 ft), which is the last lodge village up that valley. From there you walk up to Island Peak base camp and sleep in a tent rather than a lodge. Summit day goes from that camp to the top and back to the camp, or in some versions all the way back down to Chhukung. Our own record for this trip puts its highest point at 6,189 m (20,305 ft), which is the summit itself and not base camp.2
Island Peak and Imja Tse are the same mountain. Imja Tse is the local name and it is the one our own records carry beside the English one. You will see both on permits, on maps and on other operators’ pages. If somebody quotes you for one and somebody else quotes you for the other, they are quoting for the same climb, so compare the two quotes rather than assuming they are different trips.
It is also not the same product as our standalone Island Peak Climbing, which goes up the valley and climbs the peak without walking to Everest Base Camp first. That trip is shorter. It also gives you less acclimatization before you go high, which matters more than the day count does.
| Point | Height | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| Everest Base Camp | 5,364 m (17,598 ft) | You walk in, you stand on the glacier, you walk out. No equipment. |
| Kala Patthar | 5,545 m (18,192 ft) | The viewpoint above Gorak Shep. The highest point of the trek, and still a walk. |
| Chhukung | 4,730 m (15,518 ft) | The last lodge before the climb. The trip is still a trek here. |
| Island Peak base camp | Four different heights are published for it and we have settled none of them, so we print none.1 | A tent, a cook tent, and an alarm in the middle of the night. |
| Island Peak summit | 6,189 m (20,305 ft) | Crampons, harness, rope, fixed lines on the headwall, and a ridge at the top. |
Summit day
Rope, harness, crampons, a headwall, and a start in the dark
Everything up to Chhukung is walking. Summit day is not. Here is what it involves, in the order you meet it, with the technical words explained as they come.
You start in the dark. You are woken in the middle of the night and you leave camp by head torch. That is not for the view. Snow that is frozen at night turns soft and unreliable once the sun is on it, and the wind on the ridge usually picks up through the morning, so the safe hours are the cold ones. Expect to be moving for a long day and to finish it back at camp rather than in a lodge.
You wear crampons. Crampons are metal spikes that strap onto stiff boots so you can walk on hard snow and ice without sliding. They change how you walk. People who have never used them catch a spike on the opposite trouser leg and go down, which is exactly the sort of thing you want to have got out of your system somewhere other than a glacier at six thousand meters.
You are roped to other people on the glacier. A glacier is a slow moving river of ice with cracks in it called crevasses, and fresh snow can hide a crevasse completely. Being tied to the rest of the rope team is what stops a hidden crevasse from being the end of the story. It also means your pace is not only yours any more.
You climb a headwall on fixed ropes. The headwall is the steep face of snow and ice below the summit ridge. Ropes are anchored down it in advance, and you clip onto them with a harness and a rope clamp and move up hand over hand. It is strenuous, it is exposed, and it comes at the point in the day when you are already tired and already short of oxygen.
The last part is a ridge. The ground falls away on both sides and the top is narrow. Standing up there is the point of the trip. Getting back down the headwall afterward is where tired people make mistakes, which is why an experienced climbing guide matters more on the descent than on the way up.
None of that is extreme by mountaineering standards. Island Peak is at the approachable end of climbing and thousands of people get up it every year. It is still climbing, and the word for a mountain you need a rope and crampons to get up is not a walk.
Before you pay anything
We are not publishing an inclusions list for this trip, and here is why
You cannot climb Island Peak without a qualified climbing guide and proper climbing equipment. Not as a preference. As a fact about the mountain. A rope, a harness, crampons, an ice axe and somebody with the training to run a rope team on a glacier are the difference between a hard day out and a rescue.
We publish no inclusions list for this trip yet. The inclusions for this trip have not been confirmed in writing. The written quote we send you is the document that governs. Before you pay us or anybody else a deposit, read it and check two things: that it names a climbing guide, and that it lists the climbing equipment and says who supplies each piece. If a quote for a technical summit does not do both of those, do not pay it.
The honest detail, since you are entitled to it. Our own peak climbing products have disagreed with each other about the climbing guide and the climbing equipment. The case we documented in full was our combined Lobuche Peak trip, where the combined product excluded the climbing guide and the personal climbing gear that our own standalone product for the same summit includes. Our audit of that page records it word for word.
Our audit row for the combined Lobuche product, held as a verified finding in our own store, reads: Consistent pricing. Three durations on one page, trip facts 16, body copy 17 day, FAQ 14 days. Excludes personal climbing gear and an extra climbing guide on a peak climbing product, contradicting the standalone Lobuche page which includes both. Insurance requirement stated to 6,000 m, below the 6,119 m summit.2 Checked 12 September 2026.
That one is now settled. On 13 September 2026 we confirmed that the combined Lobuche trip includes the climbing guide and the climbing gear, and that its exclusion list was wrong. That ruling covers the Lobuche trip. It does not cover this one, and we will not stretch it to a trip whose inclusions nobody has confirmed in writing.
What happens next, and what we will do here. When the inclusions are confirmed in writing, we will publish them on this page, and we will print the date we adopted them beside them so you can see how old the answer is. Until that date appears, treat any inclusions list you find for this trip, on any website including ours, as unconfirmed.
The same applies to the climbing guide to client ratio, which is the question we get asked most about this trip. We are not answering it with a number today. Our own record of it holds this, and the hollow circle marks a value we have not settled: Not quantified, an Everest Summiter is claimed on the Island Peak combined product. When we have a ratio we can stand behind, it will be on this page with a date on it. In the meantime, ask for it in writing and hold us to the answer.
The prerequisite
What you need to have done before, said plainly
There is a version of this answer that sells more trips, and it is the one that says a fit person with a good attitude can be taught on the day. Here is the other one.
What you should have done already
You should have worn crampons before. On a glacier, on a Scottish or Alpine winter route, or on a mountaineering skills course. Not for the first time on a briefing afternoon at base camp. The skill is not hard. The time to acquire it is not the morning you need it.
You should have been roped to somebody before. Moving as a rope team is a habit, not a technique. It takes a couple of days to feel normal and you do not have a couple of days.
You should have been high before, or accept what you are doing. If you have never been above the height of Everest Base Camp at 5,364 m (17,598 ft), this trip asks you to find out how your body handles thin air and to learn to climb, in the same fortnight. One of those at a time is plenty. The good news is that the trek portion of this trip is a genuinely good acclimatization plan, which is why the combined version is a safer way to climb this peak than the standalone one.
You should be fit for a long day, not a fast one. Summit day is about staying steady for many hours in the cold while breathing roughly half the oxygen you get at home. What to train, and how far ahead, is on the training plan for the Everest Base Camp trek, and the physical shape of the walk itself is on how hard the Everest Base Camp trek is.
Who should not book this
Anybody for whom this would be a first trek in Nepal. Anybody who has never been on snow with equipment. Anybody who is booking it because a summit sounds better at home than a base camp. And anybody who needs a fixed guarantee of reaching the top, because nobody can give you one. Weather, snow condition and how your body behaves above five thousand meters all get a vote, and a guide who turns you around is doing the job you paid for.
If any of those is you, walk to Everest Base Camp on the classic route first. It is a serious trip in its own right, and if you finish it wanting more you will be a far better candidate for this one, with a real idea of how you react to altitude.
Paperwork
The climbing permit, your insurance, and one rule that does not apply
Adding a summit adds a permit and changes what your insurance has to cover. Both are worth getting right, and one of them is the single most common thing people get wrong on a trip like this.
The climbing permit is issued by a different body
The two permits every trekker needs for this region are issued by the national park authority and by the local municipality. Their fees, their issuers and where each is bought are on the Everest Base Camp permits and fees page. The climbing permit is separate and comes from a different body. For Island Peak it is issued by Nepal Mountaineering Association.1
We publish no fee for it, because no fee for it is published. Our store holds the row and marks it as carrying no figure, which is a different thing from us not having looked. When the issuing body publishes a schedule we can cite, the number will appear here. The permit is arranged by the operator as part of the trip in every version of this product we have seen.
Your policy has to cover the summit, not base camp
This is the one to get right. A policy written for trekking to 5,364 m (17,598 ft) does not automatically cover you at 6,189 m (20,305 ft), and many policies exclude anything they classify as mountaineering with ropes. Read the altitude limit on your policy: for a trekking peak like this one we require cover to at least 7,000 m (22,966 ft), which clears the summit. Read what it says about roped climbing. And make sure it names helicopter evacuation and repatriation.
Here is why that last part matters. We have no standing contract with any helicopter or rescue company, so there is no provider of ours to name. If you need to come down by helicopter, your own insurer decides and sends it under your policy, and our guide makes the call to your insurer from the trail. Nothing of ours stands behind a policy that leaves evacuation out. Carry your insurer’s emergency number and your policy number, and give both to us before you fly.
Take the altitude limit seriously, because we have caught our own estate getting it wrong. The audit of our combined Lobuche trip, quoted above, records an insurance requirement stated below the height of the summit that trip climbs. That is the exact defect to check for in whatever a seller hands you. The shape of a policy that works on this route is set out on the travel insurance page for the Everest Base Camp trek.
The 2025 guide ratio rule does not apply to this peak
Nepal revised its mountaineering regulation with effect from 8 January 2025, and one clause in it is quoted at people a lot: One guide per two climbers.3 That clause is written for a specific set of mountains. Our record of its scope reads: On peaks above 8,000 m. It is a climbing rule and does not apply to the walk to base camp.
Island Peak at 6,189 m (20,305 ft) is far below that threshold, so the rule does not apply to this trip and we will not pretend it does. If a seller tells you the law guarantees you a ratio on this peak, they are quoting a rule written for a different class of mountain. Whatever ratio you get here comes from the operator’s own policy, which is why you should get it in writing rather than in law.
What is missing, on purpose
Why there is no length and no published price on this page
Two figures you came looking for are not here. One is missing on purpose. The other does not exist yet as a single published number.
The length. Our own record for Everest Base Camp with Island Peak Climbing states one number in its trip facts and a different number in its own FAQ.
Our audit row for this product, held as a verified finding in our own store, reads: Consistent pricing. Trip facts 18 days against an FAQ saying 16. Only product in the peak set with genuine on page testimonials.2 Checked 12 September 2026.
Publishing either of those as though it were the answer would mean picking one at random, so we publish neither. There is also a second trap in trip lengths generally. A product length counts trip days, from arriving in Kathmandu to leaving it, while our itinerary page counts trail days, Lukla to Lukla. Those two schemes count different things, so when any operator quotes you a length, ask which one they mean before you compare it with anybody else’s.
The price. There is no single published price for this trip yet. The price comes to you in writing, in the quote for your dates, before you pay anything, with what is included and what is not set out beside it. Tell us your dates and your group size and we will send it.
And the gear charge. There is a figure in circulation for renting personal climbing equipment on peak climbs. Our store holds it as an assertion made by a seller rather than as something an independent body has confirmed, so it does not meet the standard for publication here and you will not find it on this page. Ask for it on your quote instead, itemized.
The alternatives
The two other trips that put a summit on this trek, and how they differ
We run two other combinations in this region that end on a summit. They are not interchangeable, and the difference is worth a minute of your time.
The three passes with Island Peak. Same summit, with the full three pass circuit under it instead of the straightforward walk in. Kongma La at 5,535 m (18,159 ft), Cho La at 5,420 m (17,782 ft) and Renjo La at 5,360 m (17,585 ft) are three separate crossings, each a long day, and putting a climb on the end of them makes the hardest trip we run. It is described on the three passes with Island Peak page, and the walking circuit on its own is on the Everest three passes trek page.
Everest Base Camp with Lobuche Peak. A different summit, Lobuche East at 6,119 m (20,075 ft), reached from a high camp above the village of Lobuche at 4,910 m (16,109 ft). That combination is on sale, and on it the climbing guide and the climbing gear are included. It is described in full at Everest Base Camp with Lobuche Peak.
If you are still deciding between a walk and a climb at all, the full range of formats we run on this route, compared side by side, is on the Everest Base Camp tours and formats page.
Questions
Questions people ask about climbing Island Peak
Is a climbing guide included?
We are not answering that with an inclusions list today, because nothing confirms it in writing for this trip yet. On our combined Lobuche trip we have confirmed that the climbing guide and the gear are included, and that ruling covers that trip only. What we will say is that this climb is not possible without one, and that the written quote we send you is the document that governs. Check that it names a climbing guide before you pay anything. When the inclusions are settled we will publish them on this page with the date we adopted them.
What climbing equipment do I need, and who supplies it?
At a minimum a harness, a helmet, crampons, an ice axe, a rope clamp and mountain boots stiff enough to take crampons. Who supplies each piece is not confirmed for this trip in writing yet, so ask for it itemized on your quote, piece by piece, with the ones you are expected to bring marked as yours. There is a figure in circulation for renting the personal items. We hold it as a seller’s claim rather than a confirmed price, so we do not print it.
Do I need climbing experience?
You should have used crampons and been roped up before, somewhere other than here. Island Peak is at the approachable end of mountaineering, which is not the same as being a first climb. The trek portion of this trip is a good acclimatization plan, so the altitude is handled better here than on the standalone climb. The technical part is not taught by the mountain.
How high is Island Peak, and is it the same as Imja Tse?
It is 6,189 m (20,305 ft), and yes, Imja Tse is the same mountain. Imja Tse is the local name and Island Peak is the English one. Our own record for the standalone climb carries both. Permits, maps and operators use either, so read a quote for the height and the valley rather than for the name. It sits up the Imja valley east of Dingboche at 4,410 m (14,469 ft).
Does the law require one guide for every two climbers on this peak?
No. That clause of the 2025 regulation is written for peaks above eight thousand meters, and this one is nowhere near that. Any ratio you are offered here is the operator’s own policy rather than a legal requirement, which is a good reason to get it written into your quote.
How long is the trip, and what does it cost?
We are printing neither on this page, and the section above sets out exactly why. Our own record gives two different lengths for it, and there is no single published price for it yet. Ask us and you will get both in writing, in the quote for your dates, before you pay anything.
What happens if I cannot summit?
You come down, and you have still walked to Everest Base Camp and stood on Kala Patthar at 5,545 m (18,192 ft). Weather, snow condition and how your body is coping all decide summit day, and a guide who turns a rope team around is doing the job properly. Nobody honest sells you a summit. They sell you an attempt with the best odds they can arrange.
Sources
Where these figures come from
Every number above is listed here with the body that publishes it and the date we last read it. If a figure has changed since, write to us and we will correct the page and say that we did.
- Our own Khumbu height and permit ledger Every height on this page is read from our fact store, which collects each published value for each place and marks the ones we have not settled. Island Peak base camp carries four published values across our own itineraries, including a disagreement inside a single day entry, so it is named here with no height. The issuing body for the Island Peak climbing permit is held as a settled row. Its fee is held as a row with no published figure. The ledger is an internal document with no public address, and the full set of route heights is on the elevation page. Checked 12 September 2026.
- Our own product records, and our audit of them The trip name, the published maximum altitude, the conflicting day counts and the inclusion contradiction on the neighboring Lobuche combination are read from the product records of Nepal Unique Treks and Expedition Pvt Ltd, the licensed Kathmandu operator this site belongs to, and from our own audit of those records. They are quoted as evidence of what our own estate currently publishes, including where it contradicts itself, and never as verified figures. No public document collects them, which is why there is no link on this row. Checked 12 September 2026.
- Nepal mountaineering regulation, 2025 revision The effective date and the guide to climber ratio clause come from the Nepal cabinet, 2025-01-08 that revised the regulation. We quote the ratio clause only to say that it is written for peaks above eight thousand meters and therefore does not apply to this trip. Read the source Checked 12 September 2026.
Keep reading
Where to go next
- The Everest three passes with Island PeakThe same summit with the full three pass circuit under it. The hardest trip we run.
- Everest Base Camp with Lobuche PeakThe other combined summit, where the climbing guide and the climbing gear are included.
- How hard the Everest Base Camp trek isThe three things that make the walk hard, before you think about adding a climb.
- Travel insurance for the Everest Base Camp trekWhat a policy has to cover, and why a trekking policy will not cover a roped climb.
- Every elevation on the Everest Base Camp routeThe full height ledger, including the Island Peak base camp figures we have not settled.
- Everest Base Camp tours and formats comparedEvery version of this trek we run, side by side, with what each one costs you in days.
Ask us for this in writing before you ask anybody for money
Send us your dates, your group size, and an honest account of what you have climbed and how high you have been. We will come back with a written quote that names your climbing guide and itemizes the climbing equipment, and if we think you should walk to base camp first and climb another year we will say that instead. No deposit is taken to answer a question.
Published 12 September 2026. Last checked 12 September 2026 against the issuing authorities. A hollow circle marks a figure we have not settled yet. A half circle marks one where two authorities disagree, and we show both.