Overview
Ama Dablam is 6,812 metres, and it is on more posters than any other mountain in Nepal. The south-west ridge is the normal route: rock towers, a corniced snow arête and a summit slope under a hanging glacier.
The altitude is modest — nobody uses oxygen — and the climbing is not. This is the standard step between trekking peaks and the eight-thousanders.
The route
Camp one at 5,700 m sits on the ridge crest after a long day of slabs and boulders. The stretch to camp two gains only 200 metres and contains the hardest climbing on the mountain: the Yellow Tower, a steep rock pitch on fixed rope, and the Grey Tower above it. Camp two is a handful of platforms pitched on the crest with air on both sides.
Camp three at 6,300 m sits below the Mushroom Ridge, and summit day climbs snow and ice beneath the hanging serac — the dablam itself — to a small top with Everest, Lhotse and Makalu laid out behind.
The serac
The hanging glacier that names the mountain has collapsed onto the route before and killed climbers. It cannot be avoided, only timed. Any operator who does not raise this with you unprompted is the wrong operator.
What it costs
USD 9,000 to 18,000. The royalty is only USD 400 in spring and USD 200 in autumn — the cost is the fixed rope, the climbing Sherpas, the three stocked camps and the four to six weeks of crew time. Rates and rules are revised periodically; confirm before booking.
Day by day
The 30 days itinerary
Distances, walking times, altitudes and accommodation for every stage — stored as structured data, not written into the prose.
- Day 1
Kathmandu — briefing and gear check
Ministry briefing, equipment inspection, team packing
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 1,400 m
- Sleep
- Hotel, Kathmandu
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Expeditions carry a Ministry liaison officer and a formal briefing, which is the administrative difference between this and a trekking peak.
- Day 2
Kathmandu to Lukla, walk to Phakding
Kathmandu (1,400 m) → Lukla (2,860 m) → Phakding (2,610 m)
- Distance
- 8 km
- Walking
- 3 hours after the flight
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 2,610 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Phakding
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 3
Phakding to Namche Bazaar
Phakding (2,610 m) → Namche Bazaar (3,440 m)
- Distance
- 11 km
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 2,610 m → 3,440 m
- Elevation
- +830 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Namche
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 4
Namche — acclimatisation
Namche (3,440 m) → Everest View Hotel (3,880 m) → Namche
- Distance
- 6 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 3,440 m → 3,440 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Namche
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 5
Namche to Tengboche
Namche (3,440 m) → Tengboche (3,860 m)
- Distance
- 10 km
- Walking
- 5 hours
- Altitude
- 3,440 m → 3,860 m
- Elevation
- +600 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Tengboche
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 6
Tengboche to Pangboche
Tengboche (3,860 m) → Pangboche (3,985 m)
- Distance
- 5 km
- Walking
- 3 hours
- Altitude
- 3,860 m → 3,985 m
- Elevation
- +125 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Pangboche
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Pangboche gompa
- the oldest in the Khumbu
- Day 7
Pangboche to Ama Dablam base camp
Pangboche (3,985 m) → base camp (4,600 m)
- Distance
- 6 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 3,985 m → 4,600 m
- Elevation
- +615 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 8
Base camp — puja and skills
Base camp (4,600 m)
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 4,600 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
No Khumbu expedition starts before the puja. The days that follow are rope-work, fixed-line technique and ascender drills on the boulders above camp.
- Day 9
Acclimatisation rotation to camp one
Base camp (4,600 m) → camp one (5,700 m) → base camp
- Walking
- 8 hours
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 4,600 m
- Elevation
- +1100 m / −1100 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Slabs and boulder scrambling to the ridge crest
- Day 10
Rotation — sleep at camp one
Base camp (4,600 m) → camp one (5,700 m)
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 5,700 m
- Elevation
- +1100 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp one
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 11
Camp one towards camp two and back down
Camp one (5,700 m) → below camp two (6,000 m) → base camp (4,600 m)
- Walking
- 8 hours
- Altitude
- 5,700 m → 4,600 m
- Elevation
- +300 m / −1700 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- First look at the Yellow Tower
- Day 12
Base camp — rest
Base camp (4,600 m)
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 4,600 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 13
Rest and weather window watch
Base camp (4,600 m)
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 4,600 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Ama Dablam's summit windows are short and the ridge is unclimbable in wind. The waiting is a real part of the expedition.
- Day 14
Summit push — base camp to camp one
Base camp (4,600 m) → camp one (5,700 m)
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 5,700 m
- Elevation
- +1100 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp one
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 15
Camp one to camp two
Camp one (5,700 m) → camp two (5,900 m)
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 5,700 m → 5,900 m
- Elevation
- +200 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp two
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Only 200 metres of height but the hardest climbing on the mountain — the Yellow Tower is a steep rock pitch climbed on fixed rope, and camp two is a set of platforms perched on the crest with drops on both sides.
- The Yellow Tower
- The Grey Tower
- Day 16
Camp two to camp three
Camp two (5,900 m) → camp three (6,300 m)
- Walking
- 5 hours
- Altitude
- 5,900 m → 6,300 m
- Elevation
- +400 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp three
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- The Mushroom Ridge
- The hanging glacier — the dablam itself
- Day 17
Summit day, and down to camp two
Camp three (6,300 m) → Ama Dablam (6,812 m) → camp two (5,900 m)
- Walking
- 10–12 hours
- Altitude
- 6,300 m → 5,900 m
- Elevation
- +512 m / −912 m
- Sleep
- Tented camp two
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Snow and ice slopes beneath the hanging serac — the dablam that gives the mountain its name — to a small summit. The serac is the objective danger that has killed climbers here and it is not avoidable, only timed.
- Everest
- Lhotse and Makalu from the summit
- Day 18
Camp two to base camp
Camp two (5,900 m) → base camp (4,600 m)
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 5,900 m → 4,600 m
- Elevation
- −1300 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 19
Contingency and clear-up at base camp
Base camp (4,600 m) — reserved days for weather and a second attempt
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 4,600 m
- Sleep
- Tented base camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A well-run itinerary holds five to eight spare days here. They are used more often than not.
- Day 20
Base camp to Namche
Base camp (4,600 m) → Pangboche → Namche (3,440 m)
- Distance
- 20 km
- Walking
- 7 hours
- Altitude
- 4,600 m → 3,440 m
- Elevation
- −1160 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Namche
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 21
Namche to Lukla
Namche (3,440 m) → Lukla (2,860 m)
- Distance
- 19 km
- Walking
- 7 hours
- Altitude
- 3,440 m → 2,860 m
- Elevation
- −580 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Lukla
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 22
Lukla to Kathmandu, and reserve days
Lukla (2,860 m) → Kathmandu (1,400 m)
- Walking
- 35 minutes by air
- Altitude
- 2,860 m → 1,400 m
- Meals
- Breakfast
The remaining days of the thirty are held in reserve — for the weather window, for a second summit attempt, and for the Lukla flight.
Route map
Where the trail goes
Route line, start and end points, and every overnight stop. Locations are shared entities — the same record powers the destination and itinerary pages.
Frequently asked questions
How technical is Ama Dablam?
Is 6,812 metres not quite low for an expedition?
What is the "dablam"?
What does the permit cost?
When should you go?
About the author
Tom Eriksen
Gear editor & photographer
Tom tests trekking equipment the only way that produces honest answers: by carrying it for weeks at a time above 4,000 metres. He shoots most of the photography on this site and writes the gear reviews, comparison tables and packing lists.
Writes about: Trekking gear · Photography · Packing and weight
