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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Highest access: (8516m/27940ft.)
First Ascent: May 18th, 1956 by a Swiss team composed of Ernst Reiss & Fritz Luchsinger
Duration: 62 days (typically) Days
Group Size: 1-10 people per group.If more we split the group
Co-ordinates: 27°57'45'' N, 86°56'03'' E
Location: Nepal/Tibet border, 30km west of Everest
Country: Nepal
Airport: Kathmandu (KTM)
Departure From: Kathmandu (KTM)
Grade: Challenging
Accommodation: Tea house during trek & Camping during climbing period
Meals: B/B plan in Kathmandu. B/L/D during the trekking and climbing periods
Transportation: Car, Jeep, Flight
Best season: Late spring (traditionally less hazardous) and autumn
Major Activity: Trekking/Mountaineering
Include Activity: Natural beauty of Sherpa Community
Culture: Sherpa and Tamang
Mode of Travel: Tea House/Camping
Climbing route: South Col
Himalayan sights: Ama Dablam, Everest, Makalu
1899: An early attempt on Lhotse was by the 1955 International Himalayan, which reached 8100m. The main summit of Lhotse was first climbed on May 18, 1956 by the Swiss team of Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger from the Swiss Mount Everest/Lhotse Expedition.[4] On May 12, 1979, Sepp Mayerl and Rolf Walter of Austria made the first ascent of Lhotse Shar.[5] Lhotse Middle remained, for a long time, the highest unclimbed named point on Earth; on May 23, 2001, its first ascent was made by Eugeny Vinogradsky, Sergei Timofeev, Alexei Bolotov and Petr Kuznetsov of a Russian expedition
1988:On December 31 Krzysztof Wielicki, a Polish climbercompleted the first winter ascent of Lhotse.
1996: Chantal Mauduit becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Lhotse.
2011: On May 20, Indian mountaineer Arjun Vajpai became the youngest climber ever to summit Lhotse 17 years, 11 months and 16 days old.
1979: Second ascent of the main summit by Jerzy Kukuczka
1994: May 13 Carlos Carsolio makes a solo ascent establishing the new world speed record at 23h 50min from base camp to the summit.
We participated in a mountaineering expedition to Mt. Lhotse (Fifth highest mountain in the world) arranged by Satori Adventures. The trip started with completing the Everest Base camp trek to Lobuche village, and climb Lobuche east as a training and acclimatization before reaching at Lhotse Base camp. We got 100% successful in our team. Summit from our team, but I had to turn around 300 meters before the summit. This is my last 8000M Mountain expedition which I climbed in age of 79 years safe and successfully.
Satori arranged all of the logistics of the trip excellently. As always, some occasional adjustments to the trekking plan had to be made, and my guides Mr. Peama Sherpa handled the arrangements promptly. I have climbed eight, 8000M Mountain with Satori adventures. I climb Mount. Everest, Mount Makalu, Mount Kanchanjungha, Mount Annapurna, Mount K2, Mount Cho-Oyu, Mount Shishapangma and Mount Manaslu after i retired age of 70 years. All my expedition was operated by Mr. Rishi Bhandari the Owner of Satori adventures and climbing Sherpa guide Mr. Pema sherpa. I have climbed all mountains safe and successfully except i fail to summit Makalu in 2015 first time because of Earthquake and need to return again in 2016 for successful summit.
All the base camp and high camp arrangements was very comfortable, featuring a dining tent, a cooking tent, and a shower tent. Unlimited tea and snacks was available in the dining tent at all times. The three daily meals were prepared by a very skilled cook, and the menu was varying food. Almost new three-person tents were used for accommodation.
I had ordered a full service package all the mountains and personal climbing sherpa guide. The Sherpa guides carried up the food to the high camps, and even my personal items. In the high camps the Sherpas supplied us with boiled water and were otherwise also very helpful. We planned the summit push with our sherpas, who set a personalized summit schedule for our group. Many of the Sherpa guides knew English pretty well, and some of them even told that they were taking English courses during their free months.
All in all, Satori Adventures had very convincing logistics for all my 8000m expedition. This is the main reason i returned again and again with them and summit my entire planned mountain safe and successfully. I would recommend all the mountain lovers to contact Mr. Rishi and Satori adventures to make your dreams comes true.
Any 8000 meter expedition (in our case we were climbing Lhotse) requires everything from an experienced and a strong Sherpa team, cooks, and other staff at the base camp, reliable and well tested equipment such as tents, ropes, high altitude stoves, wide variety of food selection inclusive of fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits, specialized high altitude food, good base camp facilities such as individual tents, clean and well maintained kitchen, dining, shower, and loo tents for the entire team and staff, brand new oxygen bottles, high quality summit masks and regulators for the climbers and Sherpa guides, a comfortable and luxury trek in and out of the base camp, and above all a strong ground operation in Kathmandu that takes care of all government formalities and paperwork, and is available to organize rescues incase of emergencies on the mountain.
Rishi and Satori adventures provided every single thing from the above list, and they went above and beyond all expectations. 5 out 5 (i.e. 100%) members made it to the top of Mt. Lhotse and made it back down safe and sound. A big part of this success is due to the Satori adventures' team and organization both on and off the mountain. Rishi as the CEO of Satori adventures provided us full support throughout our Everest climb. Rishi understands how to run a big mountain expedition and deeply cares for the success and safety of all expedition members. One of the climbers on my team required immediate helicopter evacuation from Camp two, and Rishi organized that without any delay.
If you are looking to climb Everest or any of the other 8000 meter mountains in Nepal or Tibet, I would highly recommend that you go with Satori adventures. And if you are looking to do any trekking or climbing a 6000 meter or a 7000 meter mountain I would again recommend to climb with Rishi and his team. I have now been on four 8000 meter mountain expeditions and three 6000 meter mountain expedition with Rishi and his team and I have no complaints at all. Every single aspect of the expedition is very well taken care of. Strongly recommended!I was part of the Satori Everest/Lhotse Expedition for 2018 and joining Satori was one of the best decisions I made. I was there for 6 weeks and every facet of the expedition was well planned and taken care of by Satori. Climbing Everest is a huge logistical exercise and with Satori everything ran like clockwork. Very smooth and organized expedition. The Sherpas at Satori are vastly experienced and Mingma and Phurba and Dawa and everyone else were great. They were patient and took the time and energy to guide/educate me on the expedition. The base camp experience was a lot better because of Satori and the ground staff and the crew they hired. Absolutely awesome. They delivered everything they promised and some more on top of that. The owner Rishi is attentive and great and stayed in constant touch throughout the expedition and made sure all my needs were met. I would go with Satori again and they sure were the right company for my needs.
There were 10 other climbers besides me on this expedition to Mt Everest and Lhotse and every one of them submitted. There could be no better proof of the efficiency and competence of Satori that they were able to take everyone that signed up to the summit. Highly recommended.