Why to summit the Kalapatthar Peak instead of Everest Base Camp

Kala Patthar Peak and Everest Base Camp are the landmarks of Everest trekking. Both of the places are the ultimate endpoint that takes you to the base camp of the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, and on top of the Kala Patthar peak. Beautiful destinations are equally important for the trekkers and rewards commendable scenarios of the enormous snow mountains, glaciers, stone village, and so on. Not only that, both of these regions offer spectacular views of mountains including Mount Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Makalu, Cho Oyu, and other snow-capped mountains and a diverse range of flora and fauna.

During the journey to the Everest base camp trek, the Kala Patthar summit is the highest altitude point. And Everest base camp is at a slightly lower elevation than the Kala Patthar viewpoint. Kala Patthar and Everest base camp side trek can make from Gorakshep, the highest human hamlet on the voyage.

To choose between the Everest base camp and Kala Patthar, many people prefer Kalapatthar over EBC because the sight of Mount Everest is clear from the peak. Meanwhile, most of the people ended up reaching both destinations as both of the treks have their own importance and their own trail. If in case of you want to choose between these two places, here are some factors you might want to consider. Also, please note that there are no tents at Everest Base Camp outside of the climbing season from March to May. And no, you can’t see Everest from base camp.

Why Kalapatthar over the Everest base camp?

Because of the structure of Mount Everest, its summit is blocked by Nuptse peak. Consequently, the Everest base camp is unable to exhibit its own physical formation. For that reason, Kalapatthar is taken as a substitute viewpoint for looking at those magnificent sceneries and now, it is one of the most visited and well-liked destinations. Each year thousands of tourists prefer Kalapatthar rather than the Everest base camp. So, the Everest base camp Helicopter tour is also landed on top of the Kalapatthar peak for exploring the very close-up mountain views.  During the spring and autumn seasons, you will encounter lots of visitors on the summit.

Besides that Mount Everest, you will be able to witness the close-up view of Lhotse, Nuptse, Changtse, Pumori, Ama Dablam, Khumbu glacier, Thamserku, Kangtega, Taboche & Lobuche. The views from the top of the Kala Patthar is breath talking. According to many travelers, the vistas from the Kalapatthar can be witnessed more beautifully in the daytime, but most days the cloud wraps around the sky in the afternoon. So, it would be better to go for a hike to Kalapatthar in the morning before the wind blows strongly. In the morning, you can enjoy the sunrise views and also have enough time to go back.

As many people from different countries come to Nepal just to see Mount Everest. If you don’t see Everest from its own camp then why someone will travel there? Thus, you might already have an idea why to choose Kala Patthar over the famous Everest base camp.

The altitude of Kalapatthar and Everest base camp

Talking about the altitude, Kalapatthar is a little higher altitude than the Everest base camp. The gorgeous Kalapatthar is at an elevation of 5,550m meanwhile the Everest base camp is at an elevation of 5,360m. Thus, to get Kalapatthar might be quite hard than the Everest base camp. However, despite the difficulty, later you will be rewarded with jaw-dropping views of Several Himalayas.

In the below table, we have listed some short facts that are different between the Everest base camp and Kala Patthar.