Lhotse Expedition (8516M/27,940ft.)

Mount Lhotse (8516M/27,940ft.) was first climbed on May 18th,1956, when Mr. Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss from Switzerland. In 1955 the International Himalayan Expedition team, led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, reached 8100m on Lhotse. The group included two Austrian climbers Erwin Schneider, Ernst Senn, and two Swiss Bruno Spirig and Arthur Spöhel. They went with almost 200 local porters and eight climbing Sherpas guide. After a brief look at the dangerous southern approaches of Lhotse Shar, they turned their attention to the Northwest face of Lhotse. The groups were beaten back by unexpectedly strong wind and cold temperatures. When the team noted the coordinate of 27° 57'45" N 86° 56'03" E was the real summit location, south col became the usual climbing route. The caravan route of Mt. Lhotse Expedition is the same as the route with Mt. Everest. All expedition team of Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse reach just below the South col on the Lhotse face and set up camp I, II, III at the same place. After considering the history and previous climbing experience, Satori Adventures noted that Mt. Lhotse Expedition is too technical compared to Mt. Manaslu, Mt. Everest, and Mt. Makalu.

Mt. Lhotse is becoming famous for its tremendous and dramatic South face. The South face raises 3.2 km and is 2.25 km wide, making it the steepest face of this size globally. Hence it is registered as one of the most challenging climbs and is rarely attempted. Lhotse is at the border of Tibet and Nepal. Its long east-west crest is lying right away south of Mount Everest, and the summits of the two mountains connect by the South Col, a vertical ridge that never drops below 8,000m. Lhotse has three summits. The main summit of Lhotse is at elevation of (8,516m /27,940ft), Lhotse Middle (8,414m/27,605ft) and Lhotse Shar (8,383m/27,503ft). Most climbers and mountain lovers formerly note that there are only 14 mountains above 8000m on the earth.8 of those mountains lie in Nepal but recently, it has changed. It seems that there are 12 8000m mountains in the Himalaya if you count Lhotse Middle, Lhotse Sher, Kanchenjunga middle, and Southeast. The Lhotse standard climbing route follows the same path as Everest's South Col route to the Yellow Band beyond Camp 3. After the Yellow Band, the routes diverge with climbers bound for Everest taking a left over the Geneva Spur up to the South Col, while Lhotse climbers take a right further up the Lhotse face. The last part to the summit leads through a narrow couloir until the Lhotse main peak reaches.

The western flank of Lhotse is known as the Lhotse Face. Any climber bound for the South Col on Everest must climb about a 1000m wall of blue glacial ice. This face rises at 40-45 degrees with the occasional 80-degree bulges. Satori climbing Sherpa guide will set fixed ropes up this wall of ice. Climbers and porters need to establish a good foot placement rhythm and pull themselves up the strings using their Jumars. Two rocky sections called the Yellow Band, and the Geneva Spur interrupt the icy ascent on the face's upper part. Though Nepal's famous Khumbu region, the approached Lhotse route leads up to the Khumbu Glacier extending down to Lobuche (4750m). After half an hour scenic flight to Lukla, Which is known as the Khumbu gateway point. You will be trekking toward Namche Bazaar (3400m), Tengboche (3800m), Pheriche (4200m), Lobuche (4710m), Gorak Shep (5150m) to Everest/Lhotse; Base Camp (5200m). It typically takes 8-9 days to reach the Advance base camp from Kathmandu.

The Lhotse expedition is a severe logistical excursion with lots of food, supplies, and equipment hauled up along the Everest Base Camp trek by armies of porters and Sherpa guides carrying ropes, ladders, and equipment to high camps. Clients wait patiently in the base camp as the Sherpa set up miles of fixed lines and find their clients' path. The Lhotse climbing expedition along the South col is calling the regular Lhotse climbing route. The summit program will be dependent upon weather and snow conditions. But in general, will be a single push of 6 consecutive days from base camp and will go as follows: Base Camp – Camp II(6400M): Camp 2 – Camp 3 Camp III (7100m): Camp III– Camp IV (7900m): Camp IV – Summit(8516M)– Camp 4: Camp 4 – Camp 2: Camp 2 – Base Camp.

Lhotse South Col Route Camps:

Khumbu Icefall:

Once past the Khumbu icefall, the route is not that challenging technically and is essentially a strenuous trekking route with a little objective danger. The Khumbu Icefall is a steep glacier with an obvious implication of large crevasses and dangerously unstable seracs, making navigation complicated and riddled in the severe threat of falling ice. The most dangerous part of the climb in Lhotse. There is an obvious danger of high altitude sickness complications and changeable, unpredictable mountain weather. At the beginning of the climbing period, climbing Sherpas guides (Icefall enactor) set the route through the icefall, installing ladders across crevasses and along vertical serac ice walls for efficient and easy climbing. These arrangements make climbing of the Khumbu icefall conceivable, practical, and moderately protected, unusually early morning before the dawn when the ice structure is very much frozen. Khumbu icefall is difficult in the early evening because of its western viewpoint.

Base Camp: (5200m/17,060ft.)

Lhotse base camp lies on a moving glacier at 5,200 meters from sea level, where you will spend up to 45 days. Conditions in base camp will remain consistent during the climbing period and will consist of shifting and moving tents and platforms as the ice moves and melts. The area is harsh but beautiful and surrounded by Pumori, Lola, and Nuptse, and The Khumbu Icefall experiences warm mornings and occasional afternoon snow squalls. With so many expedition teams at BC, it looks like a small village in the Himalayas.

Camp I: (5900m/19,357ft.)

Arriving at C1 is the most specialized piece of a southside climb since it crosses the Khumbu Icefall. The icefall is 2,000 feet of moving ice with deep crevasses, towering ice seracs, and avalanches off Everest's west shoulder. During the climbing period, we attempt to spend only two nights on camp I for acclimatization. Once you have proper acclimation, our plans call for us to move up and down directly from base II safely.

Camp II: (6400m/20,998ft.)

Camp II is in a lateral moraine at the bottom of the West edge. It is a too protected and shielded area with colossal perspectives on Lhotse. All organizations set up their primary climbing camp for the climbing time frame, with tents for singular climbers and kitchen and dining tents. Center two is the main acclimatization. The base three for acclimatization before climbing to the final summit attempt. The center that you will spend most time after base camp.

Camp III: (7100m/23,294ft.)

Climbing the Lhotse Face to Camp III is often tricky since almost all climbers feel the effects of high altitude and are not yet using supplemental oxygen. The Lhotse Face is steep, and the ice is hard, but the routing fix with rope, and the angles can range from 30 to 45 degrees. It is a long climb to camp III but requires acclimatization before a summit bid. You will spend two nights at camp three for acclimatization and the summit push.

Camp IV: (79000m/25,918ft.)

Welcome to the moon—a flat area covered with loose rock and surrounded by Lhotse on the South. Camp IV is the last camp, and it is easily accessible by a majority of climbers without supplementary oxygen. There are two rock sections to navigate before camp IV: The Yellow Band, a layer of marble, phyllite, semi schist rock, and the Geneva Spur, an anvil-shaped rib of black stone. Both of these areas are set-up with fixed ropes.

Summit: (8516m/27, 940ft.)11-16 hours

The last section of the climb from camp III to camp IV takes 11-16 hours to navigate. There the Lhotse face raises at 40-45 degrees with the occasional 80-degree bulge. The climbing Sherpa guide will set fixed ropes up the wall of ice. Climbers and porters need to establish a good foot placement rhythm and pull themselves up the strings using their Jumars. Two rocky sections called the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur interrupt the icy ascent on the upper part of the face before reaching the central summit. The route to the true summit is a moderate snow slope, and while tired, adrenaline keeps most climbers moving at this point.