Peak Climbing

A trekking peak is a mountain the Nepal Mountaineering Association licenses under a simplified permit, and the NMA's list runs to 33 summits between roughly 5,600 and 6,500 m. The name is misleading and worth clearing up: these are not walks. Island Peak and Mera Peak both need crampons, an ice axe, a harness and the ability to move on fixed rope, and Island Peak finishes with a headwall steep enough to be jumared. What the label really means is a lighter permit and a shorter trip than an 8,000 m expedition, not easy ground.

Mera Peak (6,476 m) is the highest of the NMA trekking peaks and the usual first choice, because the summit is a snow plod rather than a technical climb; the difficulty is the altitude, not the moves. Island Peak (6,189 m), called Imja Tse locally, is lower but harder, with a crevassed glacier and a 100 m headwall at around 45 degrees before the summit ridge. Lobuche East (6,119 m) and Pokalde (5,806 m) fill the gap between them. Most climbers pair one with an Everest Base Camp itinerary, because the acclimatisation is already built in.

What do you actually need to book an NMA peak? Prior trekking at altitude, and a willingness to learn on the mountain. Most operators, us included, run a training day at base camp covering crampons, ice axe arrest, jumar and abseil, which is enough for a fit trekker with no previous ice experience to climb Mera Peak. Island Peak rewards having done something on ice first. If you want the next tier up, Ama Dablam is an expedition peak and a serious technical climb, not a trekking peak. See the mountaineering page for that end of the scale.