With the majority of our climbers and trekkers now in the Khumbu Valley, here are the updates from the field, plus a few of our favorite shots from this season!

Our first Rugged Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek & Stay of the season has officially wrapped, and we want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all of our trekkers and CTSS Guide Pega Sherpa for kicking things off on such a positive note. Our second team is also up to big things, arriving at Everest Base Camp with a champagne celebration. The team will participate in a beginner-friendly ice climbing clinic tomorrow before being whisked away in a specialized high-altitude helicopter back to Kathmandu.

We have a number of teams at Lobuche Base Camp, including our Western Guided and 3 Peaks teams. Today, they took an acclimatization hike to Lobuche High Camp and then returned to Base Camp for a skills clinic. Tomorrow, they will move to Lobuche High Camp in preparation for their summit bid.

Farther down the Khumbu Valley, our Lobuche team and private climbers took a rest and acclimatization day in Pheriche. They visited the Himalayan Rescue Association, a non-profit organization that aims to reduce instances of acute mountain sickness and other mountain ailments in the Himalayas. The Pheriche Aid Post is one of three clinics they run in the Himalayas; others include the Everest Base Camp Emergency Room and the Manang Aid Post, located near Annapurna’s base.

Finally, we have a number of climbers and trekkers in Tengboche, including our Everest Base Camp trekkers, the Kirby Family, and Camp 3 climber Doug. Today, they visited the Tengboche Monastery, which was originally built in 1913 by Lama Gulu. It’s been rebuilt subsequently in 1934 (earthquake) and 1989 (fire), and today, it’s the largest gompa (Buddhist temple or monastery) in the Khumbu region of Nepal.

Thank you to CTSS Guides Nani Stahringer, Big Tendi, Little Tendi, Nuru Sherpa, and Walt Hailes for sharing these images with our team.