If you’re looking to summit Lobuche East, you should ideally have prior experience using ice axe, crampons, and glacier rope travel techniques. However, you will spend ample time retraining and refreshing these skills. Lobuche involves long rock/snow/ice slopes of moderate angle protected by a fixed line. The terrain and skill set required is similar to that found on the full Everest climb, making it a fantastic pre-climb or progression peak.
This is what the Lobuche climb usually looks like:
When you get to Lobuche Base Camp, you’ll do a training seminar before completing a carry to Lobuche High Camp, caching gear there, and descending back down to basecamp, where you’ll spend the night.
Ascend back to High Camp—this time prepared to spend 2-3 nights for the Lobuche summit bid. Take a rest/acclimatization day before making the summit push. During the rest day, you will acclimatize with a foray out of high camp on the lower slopes of the summit ascent route to familiarize yourself and brush up your skills. Head to bed early in preparation for the summit.
Wake early for an alpine start. Lobuche East’ summit route moves through a series of rock slabs increasing in steepness until you reach a final steep snow slope leading onto the south-east ridge proper below the summit. These slabs are often covered in snow/ice, but your guides are there to make sure you implement proper rope travel techniques.
Continue pushing through the steep snow slope above the rock slabs. The route then follows a prominent ridge or a few more hours of climbing—the climbing up the ridge will be protected by fixed lines as well. After working your way to nearly 20,000 ft on the ridge, you’ll be standing on the dramatic peak of Lobuche East! You’ll be surrounded by spectacular views of the Everest massif and Khumbu Valley! With the summit under your belt, the team will descend all the way to Lobuche Base Camp.