Everest Helicopter Tour

About this journey

The helicopter tour is what Everest looks like when you have a morning rather than two weeks. It lifts out of Kathmandu at first light, follows the Khumbu valley past Namche and Tengboche, and puts down at Kala Patthar or Everest View Hotel at Syangboche for a breakfast stop with the mountain in front of you. Total elapsed time is four to five hours. Because of the altitude the landing is brief — long enough for the view, not for a walk.

Highlights

• Landing near Kala Patthar at 5,545 m
• Breakfast at Everest View Hotel, Syangboche
• Khumbu icefall and Base Camp from the air
• Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Nuptse at eye level
• Back in Kathmandu by mid-morning

Permits

• Sagarmatha National Park entry permit
• Included in the flight arrangement

We process these for you. Bring your passport and passport photographs.

Getting there

• Departs Kathmandu around 6 a.m. — weather decides everything
• Usually flown as a group of four or five to share the charter
• Landing time at altitude is deliberately short