Global Expeditions Nepal

Mount Everest

South Col Route, Nepal · 29,032 ft / 8,849 m · 35 Days · Maximum Four Climbers

35 days Group: Maximum 4 climbers $155,000 per climber

The Climb

Mount Everest Expedition · South Col Route, Nepal · Spring 2028 · 35 Days · Maximum Four Climbers · Led by Willie and Damian Benegas

Everest is not a trip you add to a season. It’s a trip you build a plan around.

35Days, Kathmandu to Kathmandu
4Climbers, maximum
2:1Climbing Sherpas per climber
8Oxygen bottles per climber, high-flow regulators
1Rotation through the Khumbu Icefall
2Founders on the mountain: Willie and Damian

This expedition climbs the South Col route from Nepal in 35 days, April 21 to May 25, 2028. It is the result of decades of Benegas Brothers Expeditions’ own high-altitude guiding, applied to the one mountain where the margin for error is smallest. Every part of it, from the acclimatization strategy to the team size, the logistics and the medical plan, exists because it improves your chance of climbing well and coming home well.

The team is four climbers at most. Willie and Damian Benegas lead every departure in person, and each climber climbs with two dedicated Climbing Sherpas.

Everest, Built by Benegas Brothers Expeditions

Our mission has never been to get you to a summit. It’s to help you build a real, lasting relationship with the mountains, one honest step at a time. On Everest, that mission matters more than anywhere else we guide.

Every choice on this page comes from the same place: the small team, the extra Sherpa, the months of preparation before you board a flight. It is judgment built since 1992, deciding when to push and when to turn around, applied without exception to the highest mountain on Earth.

We’ve stood on this summit ourselves, many times. We’ve also turned climbers around short of it, more than once, because the conditions or the person in front of us said no. Both are part of doing this right.

The Mountain

Mount Everest29,032 ft / 8,849 m

Climbed from Nepal by the South Col route.

Mera Peak21,247 ft / 6,476 m

Our pre-acclimatization summit, climbed on Day 9.

Everest Base Camp17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Our own private camp, home from Day 14.

Highest camp25,900 ft / 7,900 m

Camp 4, the South Col. Your highest night, on supplemental oxygen.

The route climbs through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1, up the Western Cwm to Camp 2, onto the Lhotse Face to Camp 3, and to the South Col. From there, summit night passes the Balcony, the South Summit and the Hillary Step to the top.

A Shorter, Smarter Way to Climb Everest

Traditional Everest expeditions run 50 to 60 days. This one runs 35. That is not because we skip steps. It is because three deliberate tools do the acclimatization work earlier, before the mountain’s margin for error gets involved.

A traditional Everest schedule

  • 50 to 60 days
  • The week-long trek in to Base Camp
  • Acclimatization done on the peak itself
  • Two or three rotations through the Khumbu Icefall

Benegas Brothers Everest

  • 35 days, Kathmandu to Kathmandu
  • Helicopter on every leg inside Nepal, all included
  • Pre-acclimatized at home and on Mera Peak
  • One rotation through the Icefall before the summit push
  • Four climbers, led by Willie and Damian in person
Inside an expedition tent

8 weeks before · at home

Pre-Acclimatization at Home

Eight weeks before you leave, a Hypoxico altitude tent system arrives at your home. You sleep in it on a personalized protocol, built and supervised by our team and a professional sports physiologist.

Your body begins adapting to elevations of 21,300 to 23,000 ft / 6,500 to 7,000 m before you board a flight to Kathmandu. It’s the same category of tool endurance athletes use to train at altitude without living there. The adaptation clock starts weeks before Base Camp, not after you arrive.

Climbers in the Khumbu, Nepal

Day 9 · Mera Peak, 21,247 ft / 6,476 m

Mera Peak First

The expedition opens with a real ascent of Mera Peak, 21,247 ft / 6,476 m. It is one of Nepal’s highest trekking peaks and a genuine summit in its own right, not a warm-up hike.

Reaching that altitude early triggers the adaptations extreme elevation demands: more red blood cells, better oxygen transport, a body already learning to work with less air. After the summit, two full recovery days in Lukla let those gains consolidate. By the time you fly to Base Camp, you’ve already climbed a mountain above 19,700 ft / 6,000 m. Everest isn’t your first acclimatization test. It’s your second.

Climbers crossing a ladder in the Khumbu Icefall

On Everest · Icefall to Camp 3

One Rotation, Not Three

A traditional schedule sends climbers up and down the mountain two or three times to acclimatize on the peak itself. Each pass adds fatigue and another trip through the Khumbu Icefall.

Because the hypoxic protocol and Mera Peak have already done much of that work, this expedition needs only one clean rotation through the Icefall and up to Camp 3 before the summit push. Fewer passages through the most hazardous section of the route isn’t a convenience. It’s the strategy working as designed.

Every leg in Nepal · included

Helicopters, Not the Trek In

Every leg inside Nepal is by helicopter, and every leg is included: Kathmandu to Mera, Mera to Lukla, Lukla straight to Base Camp, and Base Camp back to Kathmandu. The expedition does not depend on the scheduled flights to Lukla, which cloud can delay for days.

Flying into Base Camp means you skip the week-long trek in and arrive with that energy still in hand.

Everest Training Camp in Utah's Wasatch Mountains

February 2028 · Utah

Training Together Before Nepal

In the second week of February 2028, the team meets in person for a three-day Everest Training Camp in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Icefall techniques, fixed-rope systems and a night climb are all rehearsed together before anyone sets foot in the Khumbu.

You arrive in Kathmandu having already trained with your teammates and guides, not meeting them for the first time at the airport.

The result: you arrive at Base Camp already acclimatized, complete one rotation instead of several, spend less time in the Icefall, and hold your strength for the summit push.

Personally Led by Willie and Damian Benegas

On this expedition, Willie and Damian guide in person: on the acclimatization rotation, at Base Camp and on the summit push. This is not a general claim about the company. It is how this specific program is staffed, every departure.

That matters because Everest doesn’t reward good intentions. It rewards judgment built from doing it repeatedly, under real conditions, with the outcome on the line. Willie and Damian bring that judgment to every climber on the team.

Who they are, and what they’ve done on this mountain, is on Why Everest With Us.

Why Four Climbers

Four climbers, maximum. Not a number chosen for exclusivity. It’s the number of climbers that one IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide and a small, senior team can watch closely on summit day.

  • 2:1 Sherpa ratio. Each climber is supported by two dedicated Climbing Sherpas. It is built into every departure, not an add-on.
  • Oxygen. Eight bottles of supplemental oxygen per climber, with high-flow regulators. Your guides and Sherpas manage flow rates and carry the reserve.
  • Decisions with the team. Your guides know exactly how you are moving, and the team can adapt to a weather window in hours rather than days.

The Sherpa climbers, cooks and Base Camp staff are partners on this mountain. We do not count them as Western guides, and we don’t treat their work as background. You will never disappear into the group.

Base Camp and Medical Support

Benegas Brothers Expeditions camp at Everest Base Camp
Base Camp is private and built for our team alone: a heated dining tent, your own sleeping tent with a cot, chef-prepared meals, solar power and satellite Wi-Fi.

Medical support runs in layers:

  • A consultation with a high-altitude doctor before you leave home
  • The Himalayan Rescue Association’s Everest clinic at Base Camp
  • 24-hour access to Everest Online Doctor services and our team doctor
  • Radios and satellite communications above Base Camp
  • Established helicopter evacuation procedures

Turnaround times are set before you leave the tent on summit night. Turning around is sometimes the right call. When it is, it is a professional decision, made early and clearly, not a failure.

Who This Climb Suits

This program is built for climbers who’ve already done real work in the mountains. Often they are professionals or entrepreneurs with limited time who want their Everest done right, not rushed or oversold.

If you’ve already summited in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft / 6,000 to 7,000 m range (Aconcagua, Denali or a Himalayan 6,000er) and you know what living on a multi-week expedition feels like, you have the foundation this climb is built on.

More than experience, we look for a particular kind of partner: someone who values a four-person team over a crowded camp, wants direct daily communication with their guides, trains seriously and follows the plan we build together, and treats the Sherpa climbers and staff as partners, not support.

For the full, honest picture of training, altitude and how we review applications, read Is This for Me?

The Expedition Film

The 2028 expedition will be professionally filmed by Benegas Brothers Productions, documenting the training, the climb and the team. It is for the climbers on it, and for BBE’s own record of how this mountain should be climbed.

If you want a dedicated film of your own climb, see Private & Custom Expeditions.

Joining the Team: By Application

Everest with us begins with a conversation, not a checkout page. Because the team is four climbers, every application is reviewed personally:

Step 1

Apply

Tell us about your climbing background and goals.

Step 2

Talk with Willie or Damian

A direct call about your experience, the expedition and fit.

Step 3

Reserve your place

Deposit and paperwork.

Step 4

Begin preparation

Training plan, mentoring, the hypoxic protocol and the Utah Training Camp.

Acceptance is not automatic. Is This for Me? explains what we look for. Price is on Dates & Prices.

Ready to Talk About Everest?

Tell us what you’ve climbed, how you train, and what you want Everest to be for you. If this is the right objective, we’ll say so. If something else should come first, we’ll say that too.

We don’t simply guide expeditions. We help people build a lifetime in the mountains.

Apply for Everest 2028

Everest is booked by application, and every climber speaks with Willie or Damian before a place is confirmed. See dates and prices. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Why Everest With Us

Mount Everest Expedition · South Col Route, Nepal · Who Leads Your Climb

Everest doesn’t need another company promising a summit. It needs guides who have been there enough times to know exactly what the mountain asks of you, and who are still willing to turn around when it doesn’t offer it.

On this expedition, those guides are Willie and Damian Benegas. They lead every Everest departure in person. Here is who they are.

20Everest summits between them
1992Guiding together since
4Climbers they take to Everest in 2028
Willie Benegas

Willie Benegas

IFMGA Mountain Guide · Co-founder

14 Everest summitsGolden Piton AwardAMGA Guide of the Year 2010
  • Everest: 14 summits.
  • Other Himalayan summits: Lhotse, Makalu, Manaslu, Cho Oyu and Ama Dablam.
  • 2003: First ascent of “The Crystal Snake” on the north face of Nuptse, recognized with Climbing magazine’s Golden Piton Award.
  • 1995: First ascent of the north face of the Nameless Tower — The Book of Shadows — in Trango, Pakistan.
  • Aconcagua: Willie’s one-day Horcones–summit–Horcones ascent.
  • 2010: Named Outstanding Guide of the Year by the American Mountain Guides Association.
  • Medical and avalanche training: Wilderness EMT, with advanced avalanche certification.
Damian Benegas

Damian Benegas

AAGM Mountain Guide · Co-founder

6 Everest summits50+ Aconcagua~85 El Capitan
  • Everest: 6 summits.
  • Other Himalayan summits: Cho Oyu (twice), Lhotse (twice) and Ama Dablam (four times).
  • Aconcagua: More than 50 ascents.
  • El Capitan: Roughly 85 ascents in Yosemite.
  • Nuptse: Co-author, with Willie, of the first ascent of the Crystal Snake.
  • Film and production: Projects with ESPN and the Netflix film Society of the Snow.

Read the full story of Willie and Damian.

Recognized for What Matters More Than a Summit

In 2011, the Argentine Olympic Committee gave Willie and Damian its Heroic Athlete Award. It was not for a summit. It was for stopping high on Everest to rescue a climber who had been abandoned by his own team.

It’s the clearest example of how they guide: the person in front of them always comes before the objective.

Willie and Damian Benegas on Everest

Our Mission: Climbing Everest the Right Way

  • Small teams, not full rosters. Four climbers at most.
  • Real preparation, built months in advance. Not a gear list handed to you at the airport.
  • Honesty about what Everest requires and what can go wrong. No promises the mountain can’t keep.
  • Deep respect for the Sherpa partners who make this expedition possible. And for the mountain itself, which has never once been obligated to let anyone stand on top of it.
This is who leads your expedition: two people who have spent their working lives on this mountain, guiding this way, on purpose. Behind them is the system Benegas Brothers Expeditions has built around Everest: the acclimatization plan, the Sherpa team, the private Base Camp and the medical support described on The Climb.

Want to Talk With Willie or Damian?

Apply for Everest 2028

Every application includes a direct call with one of them. If you have questions before you apply, ask. We’d rather you understand exactly what this expedition is before you commit to it. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Day by Day

Mount Everest Expedition · South Col Route · 35 Days · Kathmandu to Kathmandu · April 21 – May 25, 2028

This is where the 35-day model shows how it works. A real summit on Mera Peak before Everest, recovery in Lukla, a helicopter straight into Base Camp, one rotation on the mountain and then the summit push. Rest days are part of the plan, not a luxury. The schedule is a plan; the mountain is the reality.

Duration35 days, Kathmandu to Kathmandu
SummitsMera Peak 21,247 ft / 6,476 m; Mount Everest 29,032 ft / 8,849 m
Base Camp17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Highest campthe South Col, 25,900 ft / 7,900 m, on oxygen
Nights34 (4 in Kathmandu, 8 on the Mera phase, 3 in Lukla, 11 at Base Camp, 8 in the high camps)
Travel inside Nepalfour helicopter legs, all included
KathmanduDays 1–2Mera PeakDays 3–10LuklaDays 11–13Base CampDays 14–17RotationDays 18–21RestDays 22–26Summit pushDays 27–30ReturnDays 31–35
Altitude profile of the 35-day Mount Everest expedition: Mera Peak, base camp rotation and the summit pushAltitude profile of the 35-day Mount Everest expedition: Mera Peak, base camp rotation and the summit push
Highest point reached each day.

The 35 Days at a Glance

Each bar shows where you sleep that night. ▲ marks the day’s high point. Tap a day to open it.

Phase 1KathmanduDays 1–2

1Arrive in KathmanduKathmandu2Final preparation in KathmanduKathmandu

Phase 2Mera PeakDays 3–10

3Helicopter to Kothe3,600 m · 11,800 ft4Trek to Thangnak4,350 m · 14,300 ft5Acclimatization day at Thangnak4,350 m · 14,300 ft6Trek to Khare5,000 m · 16,400 ft7Acclimatization and technical training5,000 m · 16,400 ft8Move to Mera High Camp5,800 m · 19,000 ft9Summit Mera Peak▲ Summit 6,476 m / 21,247 ft5,000 m · 16,400 ft10Recovery day at Khare5,000 m · 16,400 ft

Phase 3LuklaDays 11–13

11Helicopter to Lukla2,860 m · 9,400 ft12–13Recovery in Lukla2,860 m · 9,400 ft

Phase 4Base CampDays 14–17

14Helicopter to Everest Base Camp5,364 m · 17,600 ft15–17Settling in at Base Camp5,364 m · 17,600 ft

Phase 5RotationDays 18–21

18Move to Camp 16,100 m · 20,000 ft19Move to Camp 26,400 m · 21,000 ft20Move to Camp 37,200 m · 23,600 ft21Descend to Base Camp5,364 m · 17,600 ft

Phase 6RestDays 22–26

22–26Rest, gear checks and forecasting5,364 m · 17,600 ft

Phase 7Summit pushDays 27–30

27Move to Camp 26,400 m · 21,000 ft28Move to Camp 37,200 m · 23,600 ft29Move to Camp 4, the South Col7,900 m · 25,900 ft30Summit day▲ Summit 8,849 m / 29,032 ft7,900 m · 25,900 ft

Phase 8ReturnDays 31–35

31Descend to Camp 26,400 m · 21,000 ft32Descend to Base Camp5,364 m · 17,600 ft33Helicopter to KathmanduKathmandu34Free day in KathmanduKathmandu35DepartureFly home

In each day below, altitude reads start → high point → where you sleep. Distances and hiking times are estimates.

Climb high, sleep low

Some days climb well above where you sleep. The gap between the day’s high point and the night’s camp is how your body adapts.

Times are estimates

Hiking times change with the team and the conditions. A slow, steady pace is the plan, not a problem.

The plan can flex

Weather, how the team is acclimatizing and your guides’ judgment can change the daily plan. That flexibility is part of the plan.

Good to know

Each day lists its altitude and where you sleep. Dates are the planned calendar for Spring 2028. From Base Camp onward, weather, how the team is acclimatizing and your guides’ judgment decide the exact day each move happens. That flexibility is part of the plan, not a departure from it.

The shape of the progression matters more than the dates: climb high on Mera, recover low in Lukla, fly to Base Camp already adapted, then one rotation and one push.

How the Expedition Is Built

Arrival and Preparation · Days 1–2

Kathmandu, the Hotel Yak & Yeti, gear checks and the expedition briefing.

Mera Peak Pre-Acclimatization · Days 3–11

Instead of acclimatizing only on Everest, the team builds altitude tolerance on a real summit above 19,700 ft / 6,000 m first. You sleep in simple local trekking lodges, with one night in tents at Mera High Camp.

Recovery in Lukla · Days 12–13

Two full recovery days at lower elevation before the team moves toward Everest itself. This is built into the schedule on purpose. The body needs the rest as much as the legs do.

To Everest Base Camp · Day 14

The helicopter flies straight from Lukla to Base Camp.

Arrival at Base Camp · Days 15–17

How long the team stays at Base Camp before starting the rotation isn’t fixed in advance. It is set by conditions and by how the team is adjusting, at Willie and Damian’s judgment, not a script.

The Acclimatization Rotation · Days 18–21

One rotation. Not three. The Mera Peak phase has already done much of the acclimatization work, so the team needs only one clean rotation through the Khumbu Icefall and up the Lhotse Face.

Rest and Summit Preparation · Days 22–26

Five days at Base Camp to recover fully, monitor the weather forecast, and let Willie and Damian identify the summit window with the rest of the guiding team.

The Summit Push · Days 27–30

Camp 2, Camp 3, the South Col, then summit day.

The Return · Days 31–35

Getting off the mountain safely takes real time. This isn’t a day you rush. The descent from the South Col to Base Camp is split across two days, not one.

Sleep: Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport, where our team meets you. The team gathers at the Hotel Yak & Yeti, gear is checked against the final list, and Willie or Damian walks through the expedition plan in person.

Sleep: Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu

Permits, briefings and last equipment checks before flying into the mountains. Bags you won’t need in the mountains go into storage in Kathmandu until you return.

Altitude: Kathmandu → 11,800 ft / 3,600 m
Travel: helicopter
Sleep: trekking lodge, Kothe, 11,800 ft / 3,600 m

The first of four helicopter legs inside Nepal takes the team from Kathmandu to Kothe.

Altitude: 11,800 ft → 14,300 ft / 4,350 m
Sleep: trekking lodge, Thangnak, 14,300 ft / 4,350 m

A steady day on foot up the valley to Thangnak.

Altitude: 14,300 ft / 4,350 m
Sleep: trekking lodge, Thangnak, 14,300 ft / 4,350 m

A day to let the body catch up before going higher.

Altitude: 14,300 ft → 16,400 ft / 5,000 m
Sleep: trekking lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m

The team moves up to Khare, the base for the Mera climb.

Altitude: 16,400 ft / 5,000 m
Sleep: trekking lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m

Rope work, crampon technique and a review of the systems the team will use higher on Everest.

Altitude: 16,400 ft → 19,000 ft / 5,800 m
Sleep: tents, Mera High Camp, 19,000 ft / 5,800 m

Your first expedition-tent night of the trip, and a useful rehearsal of the routine you’ll use higher on Everest.

Altitude: 19,000 ft → 21,247 ft / 6,476 m → 16,400 ft / 5,000 m
High point: Mera Peak summit
Sleep: trekking lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m

Summit Mera Peak, then descend to Khare. A genuine summit in its own right, and the day that sets up everything that follows.

Altitude: 16,400 ft / 5,000 m
Sleep: trekking lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m

Rest after the summit.

Altitude: 16,400 ft → 9,400 ft / 2,860 m
Travel: helicopter
Sleep: lodge, Lukla, 9,400 ft / 2,860 m

The second helicopter leg brings the team down to Lukla, where the lower altitude is the point.

Altitude: 9,400 ft / 2,860 m
Sleep: lodge, Lukla, 9,400 ft / 2,860 m

Rest, eat and sleep in the thicker air. Your body rebuilds here.

Altitude: 9,400 ft / 2,860 m
Sleep: lodge, Lukla, 9,400 ft / 2,860 m

A second full day of recovery, and kit is organized for the Everest phase.

Altitude: 9,400 ft → 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Travel: helicopter
Sleep: BBE private Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

The third helicopter leg flies straight from Lukla to Base Camp. Arriving by air, rather than on the week-long trek in, preserves energy for the work that matters at altitude. Base Camp is home from here, apart from the nights on the mountain.

Altitude: 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Equipment checks with the Sherpa team and the first short acclimatization walks.

Altitude: 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Time with the Himalayan Rescue Association’s Everest clinic medical staff, and more short acclimatization walks.

Altitude: 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

A flexible day: rest, final preparation for the rotation, or another acclimatization walk, depending on how the team is adjusting.

Altitude: 17,600 ft → 20,000 ft / 6,100 m
Sleep: Camp 1, 20,000 ft / 6,100 m

Through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1, above it. This is the only night at Camp 1 on the expedition.

Altitude: 20,000 ft → 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
Sleep: Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m

Up the Western Cwm to Camp 2, Advanced Base Camp.

Altitude: 21,000 ft → 23,600 ft / 7,200 m
Sleep: Camp 3, 23,600 ft / 7,200 m

Onto the Lhotse Face to Camp 3, a platform cut into steep ice. From Camp 3 upward you use supplemental oxygen, including while you sleep.

Altitude: 23,600 ft → 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Back down through the Icefall to Base Camp. The rotation is done.

Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Full rest after the rotation. Eat, drink and sleep.

Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Recovery continues. The guiding team watches the forecast.

Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Final gear checks begin: down suits, oxygen systems and communications are all confirmed before the push.

Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Rest, and the summit window takes shape with the latest forecast.

Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Last checks and the summit-push briefing. Turnaround times are set before the push, not negotiated on the ridge.

Altitude: 17,600 ft → 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
Sleep: Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m

Through the Icefall for the second and last time on the way up, and on to Camp 2.

Altitude: 21,000 ft → 23,600 ft / 7,200 m
Sleep: Camp 3, 23,600 ft / 7,200 m

Up the Lhotse Face to Camp 3, on oxygen from here.

Altitude: 23,600 ft → 25,900 ft / 7,900 m
Sleep: Camp 4, the South Col, 25,900 ft / 7,900 m

The final camp before the summit attempt, and the highest night of the expedition.

Altitude: 25,900 ft → 29,032 ft / 8,849 m → 25,900 ft
Start: in darkness
Effort: 8 to 12 hours or more, on oxygen
Sleep: Camp 4, the South Col, 25,900 ft / 7,900 m
High point: Mount Everest, 29,032 ft / 8,849 m

Departing the South Col in darkness, the route climbs through the Balcony, the South Summit and the Hillary Step to the summit of Mount Everest, then descends back to the South Col. Temperatures can reach −31°F / −35°C, with wind.

This is the day the expedition is built around.

Altitude: 25,900 ft → 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
Sleep: Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m

Down the Lhotse Face to Camp 2.

Altitude: 21,000 ft → 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
Sleep: Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

Continue the descent from Camp 2, through the Icefall for the last time, to Base Camp.

Travel: helicopter
Sleep: Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu

The fourth and last helicopter leg, from Base Camp to Kathmandu.

Sleep: Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu

Rest and celebrate. This day is also the buffer against any weather delay on the helicopter leg from Base Camp.

The trip ends when you fly home. Book a return flight no earlier than today, on a ticket you can change.

Weather and Flexibility

Weather sets the schedule, not the calendar. For most of the season the jet stream sits over the summit, and climbing happens in the short windows when it lifts, usually in May.

The itinerary carries its buffer where it matters: flexible days at Base Camp before the rotation, five days of rest and forecasting before the push, and a free day in Kathmandu before you fly home.

Summit days can move. No one can promise a summit. Our responsibility is to give the team the strongest responsible opportunity, and to turn around when that is the right call.

For how hard each part feels, read Is This for Me? For hotels, lodges and camps, see Where You’ll Stay.

Questions About the Itinerary?

Is This for Me? · Where You’ll Stay · Life on the Mountain · Flights & Getting to Kathmandu · Dates & Prices

Ask us about any day on this plan. If you’re thinking about applying, we’ll walk through it with you on the call. Ask a guide · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Is This for Me?

Mount Everest Expedition · South Col Route · An Honest Answer, Not a Sales Pitch

Everest is not a first mountain, and it’s not for everyone who can afford it.

8–12Months of training
8–12h+Summit night, continuous effort
−31°FDown to −35°C on summit night, with wind

This page exists to help you find out honestly whether you’re ready, not to talk you into it. If you have the foundation, it shows you what the expedition will ask of you. If you’re still building it, it shows you the way there.

Everest at a Glance

Experiencea prior summit in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft / 6,000 to 7,000 m range and real multi-week expedition experience
Technical skillcrampons, ice axe, fixed ropes, jumar and rappelling, already solid before you arrive
Summit29,032 ft / 8,849 m, on supplemental oxygen from Camp 3
Longest daysummit night, 8 to 12 hours or more of continuous effort
Coldest conditionsdown to −31°F / −35°C on summit night, with wind
Training time8 to 12 months
Medical certificaterequired by Nepal, from a physician, including cardiac screening
FamiliesWelcome
Team sizemaximum four climbers, 2:1 Climbing Sherpa ratio
Joiningby application, personally reviewed by Willie and Damian

Experience You Need

Before this expedition, you should have already summited in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft / 6,000 to 7,000 m range: Aconcagua, Denali, another Nepal peak in that range, or a comparable objective.

The specific mountain matters less than what it proves: real time at high altitude, real multi-week expedition logistics, and the judgment that comes from living on a mountain, not just climbing one.

You should be able to honestly say yes to each of these:

  • Genuinely comfortable with crampons and an ice axe
  • Comfortable moving on fixed ropes and using a jumar
  • Comfortable rappelling
  • You already know what a multi-week expedition feels like: the cold, the waiting, and the discipline of following a schedule the mountain controls, not you

These are not skills to learn for the first time at altitude, with your life and the team’s schedule depending on them.

A Regulatory Change to Watch

Nepal has been considering a rule that would require every Everest climber to have first summited a 23,000 ft / 7,000 m peak inside Nepal specifically, not Aconcagua or Denali.

It is not law yet. As of mid-2026, the bill had passed Nepal’s upper house and was still under review in the lower house in Nepal’s parliament, with amendments pending, and it did not apply in the 2026 season.

If it takes effect before Spring 2028, it will become a hard requirement for this expedition, so we plan every 2028 climber as if it will apply. If you have not yet summited a 7,000 m peak in Nepal, we can climb Himlung Himal (23,379 ft / 7,126 m) with you as a private expedition before Everest. We confirm the current rules with every applicant, and we’ll update this page and contact anyone in the application process directly.

Fitness You Need

Training for Everest realistically starts 8 to 12 months out, not weeks. That time builds the aerobic base, leg strength and mental endurance for 12- to 16-hour training days. Summit night asks for 8 to 12 hours or more of continuous effort, at far lower oxygen.

This expedition backs that training with:

  • A personalized training plan built with a professional sports physiologist
  • Direct mentoring from Willie as you build toward departure
  • The three-day Utah Training Camp in the second week of February 2028
  • An 8-week hypoxic tent protocol immediately before you leave, so your body has already begun adapting before you reach Nepal

If you’re applying with less than eight months to go, we build the plan around the time you have, and we’ll tell you honestly whether that is enough.

Health and the Medical Certificate

Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a medical certificate from a physician confirming fitness for high-altitude climbing, including cardiac screening. This is a requirement on Everest, and it is different from most of our other expeditions.

Book a full physical with your own doctor three to four months before departure. That leaves time to follow up if anything turns up. Send us your medical certificate by January 20, 2028.

Before you leave home, you also have a consultation with a high-altitude doctor through our team. If you have a heart, lung or other medical condition, talk to your physician about high altitude before you apply, and talk to your physician about altitude medication.

What Actually Happens at Altitude

This is worth understanding honestly before you commit, not discovering on the mountain.

At sea level, air is about 21% oxygen. Above 26,200 ft / 8,000 m, in the “death zone,” climbers are functioning on roughly a quarter to a third of the oxygen they need, even breathing supplemental oxygen. At that level, resting heart rate can climb toward 140 beats per minute, and judgment degrades.

The two real medical dangers are HAPE (fluid in the lungs) and HACE (swelling in the brain). Both can escalate fast, and both are why guides make the call to turn a climber around when they do.

This isn’t meant to alarm you. It’s meant to make clear why the guiding, the pace and the oxygen protocol on this expedition are built the way they are.

Why the Route Is Built the Way It Is

Climbers in the Khumbu Icefall

The Khumbu Icefall, the shifting glacier below Camp 1, is real, unpredictable terrain: crevasses and towering ice blocks called seracs that can move or collapse with no warning. It’s the one section of the route where careful planning matters more than fitness.

That’s a core reason the acclimatization plan is built around one clean rotation instead of the two or three passes a traditional schedule requires. Less time in the Icefall, on purpose, not by luck. The helicopter into Base Camp does a different job: it saves you the energy of the week-long trek in.

Night is also part of the plan you should understand going in. The summit push starts in darkness, often near −31°F / −35°C with wind, and runs long. This is not a moment where discomfort is optional. It’s the job.

Weather sets the schedule, not the calendar. Plans shift, summit windows open and close, and patience is as much a skill here as fitness is.

The Real Numbers

Everest’s summit statistics have improved substantially as forecasting, oxygen systems and route-fixing have improved. Published research drawing on the Himalayan Database shows summit success climbing from roughly one in three attempts in the 1990s to nearly two in three by the late 2010s, with overall death rates over the same period around 1%.

Those numbers describe the whole mountain, not any one team. They are the honest backdrop against which this expedition’s small team, private logistics and founder-led guiding are built.

Who Thrives on This Expedition

  • Climbers who’ve done the work before they arrive, not people hoping to get fit on the mountain
  • People who take the training plan seriously and actually follow it
  • Climbers who stay patient through weather delays and rest days without treating them as wasted time
  • People who trust their guides and their team, especially when a call gets made that they didn’t expect or want

When a turnaround is the right call, it is made early and clearly, with your safety first. It is a professional decision, not a failure. This expedition only works if you are willing to accept it.

Acceptance Is Not Automatic

Because this is a small, founder-led team of four, no one joins Everest by paying a deposit alone. Every applicant is personally reviewed by Willie and Damian. More often than a gap in a climbing résumé, the thing that decides yes or no is attitude, not experience.

We’re looking for:

  • Team players. Climbers who work with the group, not around it or above it.
  • People who stay open to learning. Willing to be coached and corrected even after decades of climbing, because Everest doesn’t care how many summits you already have.
  • People for whom this is about the journey, not only the summit. Who value the training, the preparation and the relationships built along the way, not just the 29,032-foot number at the end.
  • People who treat our staff as equals. The Sherpa climbers, cooks and local staff who make this expedition possible aren’t support to be managed. They’re partners on the same mountain, doing work that carries real risk, and they’re treated with the same respect as everyone else on the team.

If that doesn’t sound like how you show up, this isn’t the right expedition for you, regardless of your climbing résumé. If it is, we’re glad to have you apply.

How the application works: apply and tell us about your background; a direct call with Willie or Damian; deposit and paperwork; then preparation begins.

Not Ready Yet?

If Everest isn’t the right next step yet, that is honest information, not a rejection. There’s a clear way to get there, and each step adds real altitude experience and technical skill.

Ecuador Mountaineering SchoolGlacier travel, crampons and rope work, with instruction built in.Peru AlpinistSteep snow and ice on Alpamayo and Quitaraju, for technical skill under pressure.AconcaguaReal high-altitude expedition experience near 23,000 ft / 7,000 m.Ojos del SaladoAnother high-altitude objective in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft / 6,000 to 7,000 m range.Himlung Himal, NepalA 23,379 ft / 7,126 m peak in Nepal, climbed as a private expedition, for the 7,000 m rule Nepal is passing.

Many climbers also build through Denali or another 19,700 to 23,000 ft / 6,000 to 7,000 m objective. Come back to Everest ready, and the experience will be completely different.

See the full Road to Everest: eight steps

Still Deciding?

Apply for Everest 2028

With a maximum of four climbers, we have time for a real conversation before you apply. Tell us what you’ve climbed, how you train and what you want from Everest. We’ll give you an honest assessment. If something else should come first, we’ll tell you that too. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Before You Go

Mount Everest Expedition 2028 · Before You Go

Preparing for Everest: Start Here

On Everest, the climbers who struggle are rarely the ones who lacked strength. More often they let a decision slide at home: boots bought too late to break in, an insurance policy nobody read closely, training that started in January instead of October. Your preparation starts the day your place is confirmed. This page puts it in order: what to do, when, and where to find the details.

Three Things to Know Now

Nepal sets rules for Everest climbers that other mountains don’tYour job

You need a medical certificate from your physician, including cardiac screening, and a personal GPS tracker with a RECCO reflector. We handle the permits. These two are yours. Your Expedition Checklist covers both.

Rescue and evacuation coverage is required on this expeditionRequired

It must include helicopter rescue from the high camps, with no altitude exclusion. You can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. We recommend Global Rescue (add its High-Altitude Evacuation Package) or Ripcord. Travel insurance is strongly recommended, not required.

Bring about $5,000–6,000 in clean US dollars$5,000–6,000

Most of it is the Sherpa summit bonus and staff tips. ATMs beyond Kathmandu are unreliable, so bring your cash from home.

Your Seven Preparation Guides

1. Your Expedition ChecklistEvery form, document and health step, in order: the application, your registration paperwork, Nepal’s medical certificate and GPS tracker rules, and what you carry on arrival day.2. Trip Insurance & Evacuation CoverageThe rescue coverage this expedition requires, why trip insurance matters, what to ask your insurer, and what evacuation on Everest really involves.3. Flights & Getting to KathmanduArriving in Kathmandu on Day 1 and flying home no earlier than Day 35, the Nepal visa, the four helicopter legs inside Nepal, and packing for the journey.4. Where You’ll StayNight by night: four nights at the Hotel Yak & Yeti, eight on the Mera Peak phase, three in Lukla, then our private Base Camp and the high camps up to the South Col.5. Life on the MountainBase Camp days, the single acclimatization rotation, food, contact with home, medical support, how the summit window is chosen, and summit night.6. Everest Gear ListYour kit as five systems, what the expedition provides, the three gear checks before the summit, renting versus buying, and the full equipment list.7. What to Budget ForEvery cost outside the expedition price, from required rescue coverage to the Sherpa summit bonus, plus how much cash to carry and how to carry it.

Your Preparation Timeline

When you apply

  • Tell us about your climbing background and goals, then talk with Willie or Damian about your experience, the expedition and fit. Every application is reviewed personally, and acceptance is not automatic.

When you’re accepted

  • Complete your paperwork, including your signed acceptance of the Everest terms, and pay your deposit by the invoice we send. Your place is confirmed when we have received both and confirmed it in writing.
  • Start the training plan built with our sports physiologist. Everest preparation ideally runs eight to twelve months. If you’re booking with less time than that, we build the plan around the time you have.
  • Your first mentoring call: we go through your current kit and decide what to buy, what to keep and what to rent.
  • Check that your passport is valid to at least late November 2028, with two blank pages.
  • Consider travel insurance now. It is strongly recommended, not required. Some benefits, such as pre-existing-condition waivers, depend on buying soon after your deposit.

3–5 months before (November 2027 to January 2028)

  • Buy your double boots and summit suit if you don’t own them, and start breaking the boots in.
  • Book your trip to Salt Lake City for the February training camp. Travel, lodging and meals for the camp are not included.
  • Book a full physical with your doctor for your medical certificate, including cardiac screening. Three to four months before departure leaves time to follow up if anything turns up.
  • Order your GPS tracker and activate its subscription.
  • Buy your rescue and evacuation coverage. You can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. Buying it now gives us time to read the altitude and rescue clauses with you. Send us the policy.

January 20, 2028

  • Send us your medical certificate.

Once you’ve paid in full

  • Send us your proposed flights to Kathmandu, then book them on a fare you can change, and email us your final itinerary. We match your airport pickup to it.

Second week of February 2028

  • The Everest Training Camp: three days in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. You use your crampons, harness, ascender and ice axe on real terrain, with your guides watching.

6–8 weeks before

  • Fix anything the training camp turned up.
  • Your Hypoxico system has arrived (it is delivered eight weeks before departure). Follow the protocol exactly as written. It is doing acclimatization work you won’t have to do on the mountain.
  • Your pre-expedition consultation with our high-altitude doctor covers medications and your personal altitude kit.
  • Confirm your final gear list with us and fill the last gaps.

The final 2 weeks

  • Taper your training. Arrive rested, not run down.
  • Get your US dollars: about $5,000–6,000 in clean, recent-series notes.
  • Complete Nepal’s online arrival form and print the confirmation. Pack copies of your passport, insurance policy and medical certificate.
  • Pack and weigh your duffels. Carry on your boots, down suit, harness and medications.

Arrival day

You land at Tribhuvan International Airport, and our team meets you on arrival. You check into the Hotel Yak & Yeti, meet your teammates, and Willie or Damian walks through the expedition plan in person. From that point on, logistics are our job. Yours is climbing.

Still Deciding?

This section assumes you’re going. If you’re still working out whether Everest is the right objective for 2028, the questions are different: whether you have real expedition experience between 19,700 ft / 6,000 m and 23,000 ft / 7,000 m, whether you can commit eight to twelve months to preparation, and whether a small team that makes decisions together suits you. Start with Is This for Me?, Why Everest With Us and Your Questions.

If Everest isn’t the right fit yet, Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado, Peru Alpinist and the Ecuador Mountaineering School build the altitude and expedition experience it asks for. For a solo departure, your own team or a dedicated film of your climb, see Private & Custom Expeditions.

Questions While You Prepare?

Apply for Everest 2028

Preparation questions are exactly what we’re here for. Whether a boot model is warm enough, whether your policy covers helicopter rescue in Nepal, how to fit hypoxic training around work and family: ask early. Small questions are easiest to solve months out. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Your Expedition Checklist

Everest carries more paperwork than any other expedition we run. Nepal regulates the mountain closely, and the rules have tightened in the last two seasons. Most of it is our job: permits, fees, liaison and the government filings that come with a summit attempt. A short list is yours. This page sets out everything we need from you, what you arrange yourself, and when, so none of it is still open when you board the plane.

Your Paperwork at a Glance

Everything BBE needs from you, in the order you’ll do it. Tick items off as you go; your ticks are saved on this device. The details for each item are below.

Step 1At booking, in the registration formDone together with your deposit

Step 2Buy, then send to BBEEmail climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Step 3Arrange and carryNeeded on the trip

From Application to Booking

Apply. Everest with us begins with a conversation, not a checkout page. Contact us and tell us about your climbing background and goals.

Talk with Willie or Damian. A direct call about your experience, the expedition and fit. Because the team is four climbers, every application is reviewed personally. Acceptance is not automatic.

Reserve your place. Once you’re accepted, we email you your registration paperwork and an invoice for your deposit. Your place is confirmed when we have received both and confirmed it in writing.

Cancellation terms. Everest-specific cancellation terms are provided with your application. Read them before you pay your deposit.

Complete at Booking

Registration Form. Your personal profile, emergency contacts, medical history and climbing experience. Medical information stays within the guiding team and is used to plan for your safety. Be thorough and honest about both your health and your climbing background. On Everest, it shapes every decision we make with you.

Passport. A copy of your passport photo page. We use it to arrange your Everest and Mera Peak permits. Early in 2028 we’ll ask for passport scans and photos for the permit filings, and tell you exactly when we need them.

Terms & Conditions. BBE’s booking and payment terms, with the Everest-specific cancellation terms provided with your application. Read them before you sign.

Release. A liability release acknowledging the inherent risks of high-altitude climbing on Everest. Read it carefully. It means what it says.

When: complete these in the registration form at booking, with your deposit. Your registration paperwork shows the exact forms for your expedition.

Send us later. As soon as you have them, email climbing@benegasbrothers.com your rescue and evacuation policy and your international flight itinerary. Send us your medical certificate by January 20, 2028. We read the insurance policy with you and match your airport pickup to your flights.

Permits and Fees: Who Does What

We handle. The Everest climbing permit, the Mera Peak permit, national park and local area fees, the expedition’s waste-management obligations, the liaison officer, every flight and helicopter inside Nepal, and avalanche beacons for the team.

You handle. A valid passport, your Nepal visa, insurance that meets the requirements on Trip Insurance & Evacuation Coverage, a medical certificate signed by your doctor, and a personal GPS tracker with a RECCO reflector.

Your Everest permit is issued in your name by Nepal’s Department of Tourism. The spring Everest royalty is $15,000 USD per climber, a fee Nepal raised from 11,000 USD in September 2025. It is already included in your expedition, as are the Mera Peak permit, park entry and local fees. You pay none of them separately. An Everest permit is valid for 55 days, which gives our 35-day itinerary plenty of room.

Nepal now requires one certified guide for every two climbers above 26,200 ft / 8,000 m. On this expedition each climber has two Climbing Sherpas, led by Nepal-certified guides, plus an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide on the team, which is well above that minimum.

We check every item on your list before you leave home. Nothing on it should come as a surprise in Kathmandu.

Nepal’s Rules for Everest Climbers

Medical certificate: required. Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a medical certificate from a physician confirming fitness for high-altitude climbing, including cardiac screening. Your own doctor provides it. Book a full physical three to four months before departure, in December 2027 or January 2028. That leaves time to follow up if anything turns up. The certificate comes to us by January 20, 2028. This is a Nepal rule for Everest, and it is why this expedition asks for a certificate when our other expeditions don’t.

GPS tracker with a RECCO reflector: you bring it. Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a GPS tracker and a RECCO reflector on the mountain. The tracker is a personal item. Most climbers carry a Garmin inReach or a similar satellite communicator on an active subscription. Many down suits and climbing boots already have a RECCO reflector built in. Check yours. If you’re not sure a device meets Nepal’s rule, ask us before you buy.

Avalanche beacons: we provide them. You don’t need to buy one.

The proposed 7,000 m rule. Nepal is considering a rule that would require a prior summit of a peak of at least 23,000 ft / 7,000 m in Nepal. It is not law. As of July 2026 the bill was still in parliamentary committee. We plan every 2028 climber as if it will apply: if you need a qualifying Nepal summit, we can climb Himlung Himal (23,379 ft / 7,126 m) with you as a private expedition first. We confirm the current rules with every applicant, and if anything changes before the 2028 season, we’ll contact every climber on the team directly. Is This for Me? explains how we assess experience today.

Entry to Nepal

Most nationalities, including US, Canadian, UK, EU and Australian citizens, get a Nepal tourist visa on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The expedition runs 35 days, so you need the 90-day tourist visa: $125 USD as of 2026, set by Nepal’s Department of Immigration, paid in US dollars cash at the airport. Fees change, and we confirm the current figure with you before departure.

Fill in Nepal’s online arrival form in the 15 days before you fly and print the confirmation. Bring two passport photos as a backup. Flights & Getting to Kathmandu has the full arrival details.

Health Preparation

Your medical certificate. See above. Be open with your doctor about the expedition: 35 days, a summit night above 26,200 ft / 8,000 m, on oxygen, in extreme cold.

High-altitude doctor consultation: included. Separately from your certificate, your expedition includes a consultation with a high-altitude doctor before you leave. It covers your medications, a personal altitude kit and anything specific to your history.

Altitude medication. If you are considering medication to help with altitude, talk to your physician and our high-altitude doctor well before departure. It is a decision for you and your doctors.

Prescription medications. Bring everything you take, for the full trip plus extra days, in your carry-on with copies of your prescriptions.

Travel clinic. Ask about routine vaccinations and those commonly recommended for Nepal, such as hepatitis A and typhoid. Allow four to six weeks before you fly.

First aid. Bring personal medications and a small first-aid kit. The high-altitude doctor consultation covers what goes in it.

Training and Gear

Your training plan. Built with our sports physiologist, ideally over eight to twelve months. If you’re booking with less time, we build the plan around the time you have.

Mentoring calls. Your first call goes through your current kit, category by category, before you buy anything.

Boots and down suit. Buy early. Double boots and summit suits often sell out in common sizes before the spring season, and boots need weeks of wear to break in.

Utah Training Camp. Three days in the Wasatch Mountains, second week of February 2028. Book your trip to Salt Lake City early. Travel, lodging and meals for the camp are not included.

Hypoxico system. Delivered to your home eight weeks before departure. Follow the protocol exactly as written.

Travel

Passport. Valid at least six months beyond your travel dates, which means to at least late November 2028, with at least two blank pages. There’s no fix for an expired passport once flights are booked.

Flights. Book your international flights to Kathmandu once your place is confirmed and you’ve paid in full. Send us your proposed itinerary before you buy, and favor a fare you can change. Every leg inside Nepal is by helicopter and included.

The Final Two Weeks

  • Taper your training. Arrive rested, not run down.
  • Get your US dollars: about $5,000–6,000 in clean, recent-series notes (see What to Budget For).
  • Complete Nepal’s online arrival form and print the confirmation.
  • Check that your GPS tracker subscription is active.
  • Pack and weigh your duffels. Carry on your boots, down suit, harness and medications.
  • Save copies of your passport, insurance policy, medical certificate and itinerary to your phone and a cloud account, and carry paper copies separate from the originals.

Bring With You to Nepal

  • Passport, valid to late November 2028, with two blank pages
  • US dollars cash for the visa fee, and two passport photos
  • Printed confirmation of Nepal’s online arrival form
  • Your medical certificate, signed by your physician
  • Your rescue and evacuation policy and your insurer’s 24-hour emergency number
  • Your GPS tracker, on an active subscription
  • Printed international flight itinerary, and our contact and emergency numbers
  • Prescription medications and copies of prescriptions
  • Your cash for the Sherpa summit bonus and staff tips

Arrival Day

You land at Tribhuvan International Airport, and our team meets you on arrival. You check into the Hotel Yak & Yeti, meet your teammates, and Willie or Damian walks through the expedition plan in person. From that point on, logistics are our job. Yours is climbing.

Questions?

Paperwork is the least interesting and most fixable part of expedition preparation. Ask early. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Trip Insurance & Evacuation Coverage

Everest’s summit is 29,032 ft / 8,849 m, and you live for nearly three weeks at Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m, and above it. Most travel policies stop at 13,100 to 19,700 ft / 4,000 to 6,000 m, or exclude roped climbing entirely. Specialist mountaineering insurers do cover Everest. This page explains the two kinds of cover, which one is required, and how to confirm yours before you rely on it.

Required by BBERescue and evacuation coverage

Required on every BBE international expedition. It pays to get you off the mountain and to proper medical care. The coverage it must include for this trip is listed below.

Strongly recommendedTrip insurance

Protects the money you’ve spent if illness, a family emergency or a travel disruption stops or cuts short your trip.

Rescue and Evacuation Coverage: Required

Rescue and evacuation coverage is required on this expedition. You cannot climb with us without cover for this specific climb. You can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. Without it, you are responsible for every cost of your own rescue and treatment, and your standard health insurance almost certainly won’t cover mountain rescue in Nepal.

Your policy must cover all of the following:

  • Altitude: no altitude exclusion. It must cover mountaineering to the summit, 29,032 ft / 8,849 m.
  • Helicopter rescue from the high camps, stated explicitly in the policy, and helicopter evacuation anywhere in Nepal.
  • Activity: mountaineering with fixed ropes, ice axe and crampons, and supplemental oxygen, with no activity exclusion.
  • Medical treatment: emergency treatment, including hospital care in Kathmandu or onward evacuation.
  • Search, rescue and body recovery, at or above the minimum Nepal sets for Everest climbers.
  • Dates: Nepal, for your full travel dates, April 21 to May 25, 2028, plus any extra days you add.
  • 24-hour emergency assistance.

We recommend Global Rescue or Ripcord. With Global Rescue, add the High-Altitude Evacuation Package; standard membership covers field rescue only to 15,000 ft / 4,600 m, and Base Camp and every camp above it are higher than that. Whichever you choose, confirm the plan covers helicopter rescue from the high camps, with no altitude limit below the summit. You may use any provider whose policy meets every point above.

Trip Insurance: Strongly Recommended

Travel insurance is strongly recommended, not required. Trip cancellation and interruption cover protects what you’ve paid if illness, injury or a family emergency stops you going or brings you home early. The payments on this expedition are significant and largely non-refundable, and Everest-specific cancellation terms are provided with your application.

Good trip insurance also covers flight delays and missed connections, lost or delayed baggage, and medical costs while traveling. Rescue cover and trip insurance are often sold separately, and buying one doesn’t give you the other.

When to Buy

Rescue and evacuation coverage: you can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. Buying it a few months out gives us time to read the altitude and rescue clauses with you, and to fix any gap.

Trip insurance: soon after your deposit. Some benefits, such as pre-existing-condition waivers and Cancel for Any Reason options, are only available for a limited time after your first trip payment. Check your provider’s rule.

What to Confirm With Your Insurer

Before you buy, give the provider this description:

“I will take part in a professionally guided mountaineering expedition on Mount Everest, South Col route, Nepal, from April 21 to May 25, 2028. It includes a guided ascent of Mera Peak (21,247 ft / 6,476 m), helicopter transport inside Nepal, fixed-rope climbing with crampons, ice axe and ascender through the Khumbu Icefall and on the Lhotse Face, nights at camps up to 25,900 ft / 7,900 m, supplemental oxygen, and a summit attempt to 29,032 ft / 8,849 m.”

Then ask them to confirm in writing:

  • That there is no altitude limit below the summit of Everest
  • That helicopter rescue from the high camps is included
  • That mountaineering with fixed ropes and supplemental oxygen is not excluded
  • That search, rescue and body recovery are covered at or above the minimum Nepal sets for Everest climbers
  • The coverage limits for evacuation and for medical treatment
  • How to reach their emergency assistance line from Nepal, and whether you must call before an evacuation
  • Whether pre-existing conditions are covered, and what the purchase deadline is

If they won’t clearly confirm those points, choose another policy.

What to Send Us

Email your policy to climbing@benegasbrothers.com as soon as you buy it. It should show the provider, policy or membership number, coverage dates and the 24-hour emergency number. We read the altitude and activity clauses with you so there are no gaps, and your guides carry the details on the mountain. Keep a copy on your phone and a paper copy with your passport.

BBE doesn’t sell insurance and can’t interpret or guarantee an individual policy.

What Evacuation Actually Involves

Everest has more rescue infrastructure than most big mountains. The Himalayan Rescue Association’s Everest clinic operates at Base Camp in spring, you have 24-hour access to Everest Online Doctor services and unlimited advice from our team doctor, and the expedition runs established helicopter evacuation procedures.

If a climber becomes sick or injured, your guides and Sherpas assess the situation and decide on the safest practical response. That can include first aid and stabilization, supplemental oxygen, stopping the climb, an assisted descent, contacting your insurer’s assistance line, and arranging a helicopter to Kathmandu. Descent is the treatment for altitude illness, and a climber who needs to go down never goes alone.

Helicopter rescue is never guaranteed.

Weather, wind, cloud, altitude and aircraft availability all limit when a helicopter can fly, and high on the mountain the first part of any evacuation often happens on foot and on the fixed lines. Your policy must cover a helicopter for the times one can reach you. Don’t plan around it.

BBE doesn’t control rescue services, aircraft, hospitals or insurance decisions, and a policy doesn’t guarantee that a rescue can happen or that every cost will be paid. What good coverage does is take cost out of the decision and get you to proper care quickly.

Your financial responsibility. Rescue and medical providers may ask for payment or a guarantee before they act, even when you’re insured. Keep a card with real available credit, and save your policy number, emergency number and claim instructions offline. Any cost your insurance doesn’t pay remains yours.

Questions About Your Policy?

Send us what your insurer told you, and we’ll tell you if anything looks missing. We can’t approve a policy for you, but we can point out the gaps we see most often. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Flights & Getting to Kathmandu

On this expedition you arrange one thing: getting yourself to Kathmandu and home again. Everything after the airport is ours, including the transfers, the hotel and every helicopter leg into and out of the mountains. This page covers the part you do book, and how to book it so that a weather delay or a lost bag doesn’t turn into a problem.

Before You Book

Book your international flights once your place on the team is confirmed and you’ve paid in full. Send us your proposed itinerary before you buy. We match your airport pickup to it and flag any connection that looks too tight. Book with your full legal name exactly as it appears in your passport.

You’ll also travel to Salt Lake City for the Everest Training Camp, three days in the second week of February 2028. Book that trip early.

Flying to Kathmandu

Fly into Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), Kathmandu. No direct flights run from North America or Europe. Most climbers connect through Doha, Dubai, Istanbul or Delhi. Allow 25 to 35 hours of total travel from the US, depending on the connection.

When to Arrive and When to Leave

Arrive on Day 1, Friday April 21, 2028. Arriving a day early is better. It gives you a margin against a missed connection or a delayed bag, and a night’s sleep before the team briefing. We can book the extra night at the team hotel for you.

Fly home no earlier than Day 35, Thursday May 25, 2028. Day 34 is a buffer day in Kathmandu, there in case weather holds up the helicopter from Base Camp. Buy a ticket you can change without a heavy penalty. Everest runs on weather windows, and a flexible return is cheap insurance against a summit window that arrives late.

Entering Nepal

Visa on arrival. Most nationalities, including US, Canadian, UK, EU and Australian citizens, get a Nepal tourist visa on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport. The expedition runs 35 days, so you need the 90-day tourist visa: $125 USD as of 2026, set by Nepal’s Department of Immigration. Pay in US dollars cash at the airport. Fees change, and we confirm the current figure with you before departure.

Online arrival form. To save time on arrival, fill in Nepal’s online arrival form in the 15 days before you fly and print the confirmation. Bring two passport photos as a backup.

Your passport. Valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, to late November 2028, with at least two blank pages.

Transfers in Kathmandu: Included

Our team meets you at the airport and takes you to the Hotel Yak & Yeti. The transfer is included on arrival and on departure. You won’t be negotiating a taxi with an expedition’s worth of duffels. Send us your flight details and we match the pickup to your arrival.

Inside Nepal: Every Leg Is by Helicopter

The expedition does not use the scheduled fixed-wing flights to Lukla, which are often delayed for days by cloud. All four legs inside Nepal are by helicopter, and all are included:

  • Day 3: Kathmandu to Kothe, for the Mera Peak phase
  • Day 11: Mera to Lukla, for recovery
  • Day 14: Lukla to Everest Base Camp
  • Day 33: Base Camp to Kathmandu

Flying into Base Camp means you skip the week-long trek in, and you arrive with that energy still in hand. Mountain helicopters carry strict weight limits. We’ll give you the limit for each leg and show you how to split your kit between the Mera phase and the Everest phase before you leave Kathmandu.

Packing for the Journey

Expedition duffels are heavy. Check the baggage allowance on every airline in your itinerary, and pre-pay extra bags when you book. It costs far more at the check-in desk.

Wear or carry on the things you can’t replace in Kathmandu: your double boots, your down suit, your harness and any prescription medication. Checked bags go astray on long connections. If you can still climb when you land, a late duffel is an inconvenience, not a crisis.

Bags you don’t need in the mountains stay in storage in Kathmandu until you’re back.

If Something Goes Wrong

Flight delayed or connection missed. Contact us right away at climbing@benegasbrothers.com, before you rebook if you can. Arriving a day early is the simplest protection.

Bag delayed. Tell our team at the airport. We chase the airline for you. Because your boots, down suit, harness and medications are in your carry-on, most other items can be borrowed or bought in Kathmandu before we fly on Day 3.

Questions Before You Book?

A quick email now saves rebooking fees later. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Where You'll Stay

Over 34 nights you sleep in five kinds of place: a city hotel, mountain lodges, a recovery lodge in Lukla, our own Base Camp and the high camps on the route. How well you sleep at each one decides how much you have left on summit day, so we choose them with that in mind. This page goes through them in the order you meet them.

Tents and prayer flags at Everest Base Camp

Night by Night

  • Night 1 (Day 1): Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu
  • Night 2 (Day 2): Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu
  • Night 3 (Day 3): lodge, Kothe, 11,800 ft / 3,600 m
  • Night 4 (Day 4): lodge, Thangnak, 14,300 ft / 4,350 m
  • Night 5 (Day 5): lodge, Thangnak, 14,300 ft / 4,350 m, acclimatization day
  • Night 6 (Day 6): lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m
  • Night 7 (Day 7): lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m, training day
  • Night 8 (Day 8): tents, Mera High Camp, 19,000 ft / 5,800 m
  • Night 9 (Day 9): lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m, after the Mera Peak summit
  • Night 10 (Day 10): lodge, Khare, 16,400 ft / 5,000 m, recovery day
  • Nights 11–13 (Days 11–13): recovery lodge, Lukla, 9,400 ft / 2,860 m
  • Nights 14–17 (Days 14–17): our Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
  • Night 18 (Day 18): Camp 1, 20,000 ft / 6,100 m
  • Night 19 (Day 19): Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
  • Night 20 (Day 20): Camp 3, 23,600 ft / 7,200 m, on oxygen
  • Nights 21–26 (Days 21–26): Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m, rest and summit preparation
  • Night 27 (Day 27): Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
  • Night 28 (Day 28): Camp 3, 23,600 ft / 7,200 m, on oxygen
  • Night 29 (Day 29): Camp 4, the South Col, 25,900 ft / 7,900 m, on oxygen
  • Night 30 (Day 30): the South Col, 25,900 ft / 7,900 m, on oxygen, after summit day
  • Night 31 (Day 31): Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
  • Night 32 (Day 32): Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m
  • Nights 33–34 (Days 33–34): Hotel Yak & Yeti, Kathmandu
  • Day 35: departure

Weather sets the real schedule on Everest. The rotation, rest days and summit push can move, and your guides adjust these nights to the forecast.

Kathmandu: Hotel Yak & Yeti

Four nights: Days 1–2 and Days 33–34.

Your expedition starts and finishes at the Hotel Yak & Yeti in central Kathmandu. These are the last nights with a real bed and a hot shower for over a month, and the first nights back after the summit. We’d rather they were good ones.

Room sharing. Rooms are double occupancy as standard.

Single rooms. Available on request; we’ll quote the cost when you ask.

Extra nights. If you want extra nights before or after the expedition, we can book them at the same hotel. Bags you don’t need in the mountains stay in storage in Kathmandu until you’re back.

Mera Peak: Trekking Lodges and High Camp

Eight nights: Days 3–10.

During the Mera phase you sleep in local trekking lodges at Kothe (11,800 ft / 3,600 m), Thangnak (14,300 ft / 4,350 m) and Khare (16,400 ft / 5,000 m), and one night in tents at Mera High Camp (19,000 ft / 5,800 m) before the summit. Lodges are simple: twin rooms, shared bathrooms, a warm dining room with a stove. They are run by families we have worked with for years.

High Camp is your first expedition-tent night of the trip, and a useful rehearsal of the routine you’ll use higher on Everest.

Lukla: Recovery Lodge

Three nights: Days 11–13.

After the Mera summit we fly down to Lukla (9,400 ft / 2,860 m). The lower altitude is the point: your body rebuilds in the thicker air before the Everest phase begins. The lodge is comfortable, with a proper bed, hot food and time to rest.

Everest Base Camp: Our Private Camp

Base Camp (17,600 ft / 5,364 m) is home from Day 14 through Day 32, apart from the nights you spend on the mountain.

Our camp is built for our team alone. It is not a shared commercial site. You have your own sleeping tent with a cot and mattress. The camp has a heated dining tent, chef-prepared meals, solar power and satellite Wi-Fi. A Sherpa and kitchen team runs the camp every day.

Nepal now restricts overnight stays at Base Camp to climbers holding an expedition permit and their registered staff. Your Everest permit is what lets you live on the glacier.

The High Camps

On the mountain you share tents with a teammate or a Sherpa, in camps our Sherpa team sets up and stocks:

  • Camp 1 (20,000 ft / 6,100 m): above the Khumbu Icefall, on the rotation only
  • Camp 2 (21,000 ft / 6,400 m): Advanced Base Camp, in the Western Cwm
  • Camp 3 (23,600 ft / 7,200 m): on the Lhotse Face, a platform cut into steep ice
  • Camp 4, the South Col (25,900 ft / 7,900 m): the last camp before the summit, and the highest night of the expedition

From Camp 3 upward you use supplemental oxygen, including while you sleep. Nights high on the mountain are short, cold and broken. That’s normal, and part of the reason the rest of the itinerary protects your sleep so carefully.

Questions About Where You’ll Stay?

Want an extra night in Kathmandu, a single room, or to know what to leave in storage? Ask us. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Life on the Mountain

“Take care of the mountain, and the mountain will take care of you.” It is the Benegas Brothers’ motto, and the rule we climb by.

The summit is one day. The expedition is thirty-five.

Climber in the dining tent at Everest Base Camp

Most of an Everest expedition is not spent climbing. It is spent eating, sleeping, resting, training and waiting well, so that the few days of hard climbing get everything you have. Once you reach Base Camp, your days fall into three kinds: Base Camp days, climbing days and summit day. Here is what each one looks like.

How the Everest Phase Is Built

Days 14–17: arrival at Base Camp. You fly in on Day 14 and settle in: equipment checks with the Sherpa team, time with the HRA Everest Clinic medical staff, and short acclimatization walks. How long the team stays before starting the rotation isn’t fixed in advance. Willie and Damian set it by conditions and by how the team is adjusting.

Days 18–21: one acclimatization rotation. Camp 1, Camp 2 and Camp 3, then back down to Base Camp.

Days 22–26: rest and summit preparation. Five days at Base Camp to recover fully, watch the forecast and confirm down suits, oxygen systems and communications before the push.

Days 27–30: the summit push. Camp 2, Camp 3, the South Col, then summit night.

Days 31–32: the descent. Two days down to Base Camp, not one.

These days move with the weather. The order stays the same; the dates follow the forecast.

A Base Camp Day

Base Camp days follow a steady rhythm, and the rhythm is part of the plan:

  • Morning: breakfast in the heated dining tent. Your guides check in with every climber: how you slept, how you’re eating, how you feel.
  • Late morning: an acclimatization walk, a skills session on the ropes, or rest, depending on where we are in the schedule.
  • Afternoon: lunch, then time that is yours: reading, calls home, gear work, sleep.
  • Evening: dinner and the team briefing. The weather picture and the plan for the next few days are discussed openly. With four climbers, you’re part of that conversation.

Rest is part of the job. The body adapts during rest, not effort, so don’t treat a quiet day as a wasted one.

The Rotation: One, Not Three

On this expedition you make one acclimatization rotation, to Camp 3 and back, not the two or three a traditional schedule requires. Your pre-acclimatization at home with the Hypoxico system and on Mera Peak has already done that work. That means fewer trips through the Icefall, and more strength left for the summit.

  • Day 18: through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1, 20,000 ft / 6,100 m
  • Day 19: up the Western Cwm to Camp 2, 21,000 ft / 6,400 m
  • Day 20: up the Lhotse Face to Camp 3, 23,600 ft / 7,200 m
  • Day 21: down to Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m

A Climbing Day

Climbing days start in the dark. We go through the Khumbu Icefall in the early morning, when the ice is coldest and most stable, and aim to be through it before the sun warms it. Above it, the days are long, steady movement on fixed lines up the Western Cwm and the Lhotse Face, with your two Climbing Sherpas alongside.

From Camp 3 upward you use supplemental oxygen, including while you sleep. Nights high on the mountain are short, cold and broken. That’s normal.

Food

Our Base Camp chef cooks fresh meals every day, a mix of international and Nepali dishes. At altitude, appetite fades just when your body needs more fuel, so we treat food as part of performance: plenty of choice, plenty of fluids and meals people actually want to eat. Vegetarian and vegan diets are fully accommodated. Tell us about any other dietary needs when you join. On the mountain, you switch to lightweight, high-calorie expedition food and water from melted snow.

Staying in Touch

Base Camp has solar charging and satellite Wi-Fi, so you can message family and keep up with work when you need to. Usage is billed by how much you use. Above Base Camp, your guides carry radios and satellite communications for safety, not personal calls. Tell your family before you leave that a quiet day or two, especially during the rotation and the summit push, is normal and not a sign of a problem.

Staying Healthy

The Himalayan Rescue Association’s Everest clinic operates at Base Camp in spring. You also have 24-hour access to Everest Online Doctor services, unlimited advice from our team doctor, and established helicopter evacuation procedures.

Report a headache, a cough or a cold hand early. Small problems are easy to solve at 17,600 ft / 5,364 m and hard to solve at 25,900 ft / 7,900 m.

Weather and the Summit Window

Spring on Everest moves through phases. Base Camp days are often mild in the sun, with nights well below freezing. Conditions build on the Lhotse Face. On summit day temperatures can reach −31°F / −35°C, with significant wind. For most of the season the jet stream sits over the summit, and climbing happens in the short windows when it lifts, usually in May.

We combine professional high-altitude forecasting with what we see on the mountain each day and how each climber is moving, and plan rest, the rotation and the summit push around what the forecast actually says, not a fixed date. The decision is made openly with the team, not set by the calendar.

Summit Night

You leave the South Col in darkness, on oxygen, climbing past the Balcony and the South Summit, up the Hillary Step and onto the summit at 29,032 ft / 8,849 m. Then you come back down to the South Col. Expect 8 to 12 hours or more of continuous effort in extreme cold.

Turnaround times are set before you leave the tent and are not negotiated on the ridge. Turning around is a professional decision, not a failure, and no one can promise a summit.

Coming Down

Getting off the mountain safely takes real time. The descent from the South Col to Base Camp is split across two days: Camp 2 on Day 31, Base Camp on Day 32. On Day 33 the helicopter takes you to Kathmandu, and Day 34 is a free day there, a chance to rest and a buffer against weather on the helicopter leg.

Questions About What the Days Actually Feel Like?

Ask us about the routine, the food, the rotation or summit night. We’d rather you arrive knowing what to expect. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Everest Gear List

At 26,200 ft / 8,000 m, gear you haven’t tested costs you. A boot that pinches at home becomes frostbite risk on summit night. A glove you can’t work your ascender in becomes a stop on the fixed line. This page explains how to think about your Everest kit, what we provide and what you bring. We send you the full list, every item with recommended models, and your first mentoring call walks through it with you item by item.

Request the Everest Gear List (PDF)

What the Weather Does

Your clothing has to work from a warm city to a summit night far below freezing:

  • Kathmandu: 77–86°F / 25–30°C by day; 59–64°F / 15–18°C at night
  • Lukla and the Mera Peak lodges, 9,400–16,400 ft / 2,860–5,000 m: 41–59°F / 5–15°C by day, with sun and afternoon wind; 14–32°F / −10 to 0°C at night
  • Mera High Camp and summit, 19,000–21,247 ft / 5,800–6,476 m: colder and windier than the lodges below; your guides brief you on the forecast before the climb
  • Base Camp, 17,600 ft / 5,364 m: 23–50°F / −5 to 10°C by day, with glacier glare; 5–23°F / −15 to −5°C at night
  • Camps 1 and 2, 20,000–21,000 ft / 6,100–6,400 m: 23–77°F / −5 to 25°C by day, when the Western Cwm can feel like an oven; −13 to 5°F / −25 to −15°C at night
  • Camp 3 to the South Col, 23,600–25,900 ft / 7,200–7,900 m: −4 to 14°F / −20 to −10°C by day, with wind on the Lhotse Face; −22 to −4°F / −30 to −20°C at night, on oxygen
  • Summit night, to 29,032 ft / 8,849 m: temperatures can reach −31°F / −35°C, with significant wind

Think in Systems, Not Items

Your kit is built around five systems. Each one has to work on its own and with the others:

  • Feet: 8,000 m double boots with integrated gaiters, sized for thick socks and matched to your crampons. This is the most important purchase you make for this climb, and the one that needs the longest break-in. Boots used on Aconcagua or Denali are usually not warm enough for summit night on Everest. Send us your model before you buy anything else.
  • Body: a one-piece down summit suit for Camp 3 and above, over a full layering system: base layers, mid layers, a hardshell, and expedition down for Base Camp and the lower camps. No cotton, anywhere.
  • Hands and face: layered gloves, from liners to expedition mitts, with spares. Add a balaclava and face protection that work with an oxygen mask.
  • Climbing hardware: harness, ascender, locking and non-locking carabiners, belay device, ice axe, and crampons that fit your boots.
  • Sleep and eyes: a sleeping bag rated for the cold of the South Col, glacier glasses, and goggles for wind and spindrift above the Icefall.

At this altitude, talk to us before substituting anything on the list for your boots, down suit, high-camp sleeping bag or summit mitts.

What the Expedition Provides

  • Supplemental oxygen: eight bottles per climber with high-flow regulators, managed by your guides and Sherpas, who carry the reserve
  • Avalanche beacons for the team
  • High-camp tents, stoves and cooking gear, set up and stocked by our Sherpa team
  • Base Camp: your own sleeping tent with a cot and mattress, plus dining, power and communications
  • Your Hypoxico pre-acclimatization system, delivered to your home eight weeks before departure

What You Bring That Isn’t Clothing

Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a personal GPS tracker with a RECCO reflector. Most climbers use a Garmin inReach or similar on an active subscription, and many down suits and boots already have a RECCO reflector built in. Your Expedition Checklist has the rule.

Bring personal medications and a small first-aid kit too. Our high-altitude doctor consultation covers what goes in it.

Three Gear Checks Before the Summit

Your kit is reviewed with us three times, not once:

1. Mentoring calls, starting when you join

We go through your kit category by category and flag gaps while there’s still time to fix them, before you buy anything.

2. The Everest Training Camp, second week of February 2028, Utah

You use your crampons, harness, ascender and ice axe on real terrain, with your guides watching.

3. Kathmandu, Day 2

A full, hands-on check before we fly to the mountains. We also split your kit between the Mera phase and the Everest phase to fit the helicopter weight limits.

Nothing about your equipment should be new to you on summit night.

Rent or Buy?

Some items can be rented in Kathmandu. We strongly recommend climbing in your own boots, down suit and hardware: kit you have worn, adjusted and trusted before you reach altitude. Rentals make sense for pieces that are hard to justify buying and easy to check, and we’ll tell you which ones. Many climbers coming from Aconcagua or Denali already own most of the lower-mountain kit and buy only the 8,000 m pieces.

Start early. Double boots and summit suits often sell out in common sizes before the spring season, and boots need weeks of wear to break in properly.

If something fails or turns out to be missing, that’s what the Day 2 check is for. Kathmandu has climbing shops where most items can be replaced or rented before we fly on Day 3.

How Your Gear Travels

Every leg inside Nepal is by helicopter, and mountain helicopters carry strict weight limits. We’ll give you the limit for each leg and help you pack in two stages: what goes to Mera Peak, and what waits for the Everest phase. Bags you don’t need in the mountains stay in storage in Kathmandu.

On your international flights, wear or carry on your double boots, down suit, harness and medications. Flights & Getting to Kathmandu has the full baggage guidance.

Questions About Gear?

Gear questions are exactly what Ask a Guide is for. Send us a boot model or a glove system any time before the trip. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

What to Budget For

For most of our climbers, Everest is one of the largest single purchases they’ll ever make. It deserves the same transparency we bring to the climbing plan itself. The expedition price is on Dates & Prices. This page covers everything beyond it: what’s already included, what you pay separately and why, how much cash to carry, and what to hold in reserve.

Beyond the price, plan on$6,200–9,000

Visa, Sherpa summit bonus, staff tips and personal spending.

Cash to carry$5,000–6,000

In US dollars, within that budget.

Emergency reserve$3,000–5,000

Accessible on a card, on top.

Your Budget at a Glance

RequiredCosts every climber pays
  • Rescue & evacuation coverageRequired by BBE · helicopter rescue from the high camps$1,500–3,500
  • Nepal visa90-day visa · cash on arrival · 2026 fee$125
  • Flights to KathmanduYou book · flexible return · pre-pay extra bagsVaries
  • Personal climbing equipmentDepends on what you own · some rentable in KathmanduVaries
  • Sherpa summit bonusEach of your two Climbing Sherpas · about $4,000 total$2,000 each
  • Staff tipsBase Camp cooks, kitchen and camp staff$500–1,000
  • Utah Training Camp travelSalt Lake City travel, lodging and meals · Feb 2028Varies
Strongly recommended
  • Trip insuranceCancellation, interruption, delays, baggage, travel medicalVaries
Personal spending
  • Meals and extras in KathmanduOutside the program days$20–50 a day
  • CommunicationsSatellite Wi-Fi and phone at Base CampBilled by use
  • Personal medicationsPrescriptions and doctor-recommended altitude kitVaries
OptionalOnly if you add them
  • Mid-expedition rest flightPrivate helicopter to Lukla or Kathmandu$1,800–8,500+
  • Extra nights in KathmanduTeam hotel · ask us for the rateAsk us
  • Single room in KathmanduOn request · we quote when you askOn request
  • Hypoxico shippingIncluded in the US and EU · extra elsewhereAsk us
  • Private & custom optionsSolo, your own team or a dedicated filmQuoted

The Sherpa Summit Bonus and Staff Tips

Your two Climbing Sherpas carry loads, fix and check your systems, manage your oxygen and climb beside you through the most dangerous ground on the mountain. The summit bonus is paid on top of their wages, not in place of them. It is a long-standing Everest tradition and a direct recognition of the personal risk they take. It is paid in cash, by you, and goes directly to the Sherpas who climbed with you.

The cooks, kitchen team and camp staff work every day of the expedition, mostly out of sight. They keep Base Camp warm, fed and running.

We give you clear guidance on when and how to hand over the bonus and staff tips, so they are fair, consistent across the team and done properly, and nobody has to work out the etiquette alone.

Cash and Cards

Bring about $5,000–6,000 in US dollars cash. That covers the Sherpa summit bonus, staff tips, the visa fee and personal spending in Kathmandu.

  • Bring it from home. ATMs work in Kathmandu but have low withdrawal limits and are not reliable outside the city.
  • Which notes. Clean, undamaged, recent-series US dollar notes. Torn, marked or older notes are often refused in Nepal. Ask your bank.
  • Cards. Accepted at the hotel and larger shops in Kathmandu, usually with a fee. In the mountains, cash is the only option.

Your emergency reserve can sit on a card, separate from your cash.

Contingency

Emergency reserve$3,000–5,000, accessible on a card

It isn’t money you expect to spend. It covers the unplanned: extra hotel nights if the schedule shifts, an early flight home, or replacing a piece of gear that fails. Climbers who carry this reserve make better decisions under pressure than climbers improvising on a maxed-out card.

More cost details for this trip

What the Expedition Price Covers

We built the price to cover nearly everything that affects your safety and your outcome on the mountain, because treating safety-critical items as optional add-ons is how corners get cut. In short: all Everest and Mera Peak permits and logistics; every helicopter leg inside Nepal; airport transfers in Kathmandu; four nights at the Hotel Yak & Yeti; the Mera Peak lodges and the Lukla recovery lodge; our private Base Camp; all meals on the expedition; eight bottles of supplemental oxygen with high-flow regulators; your two personal Climbing Sherpas; guiding throughout by Willie and Damian with an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide; avalanche beacons; the eight-week Hypoxico system rental; your sports-physiologist training plan; a pre-expedition consultation with a high-altitude doctor; the three-day Utah Training Camp; and your expedition film. The controlling list of inclusions and exclusions is on Dates & Prices.

Budget Summary

Beyond the expedition price, your flights and your gear, typical amounts in US dollars:

Rescue and evacuation coverageabout $1,500–3,500

Required.

Nepal visa$125

Paid in cash on arrival.

Sherpa summit bonusabout $4,000

Two Sherpas.

Staff tips$500–1,000

Base Camp cooks, kitchen and camp staff.

Meals and extras in Kathmanduabout $20–50 a day

Outside the expedition program.

Most climbers should plan on roughly $6,200–9,000 for these items. That total does not include international flights, personal gear, trip insurance, communications, a rest flight, extra nights or your reserve.

Cash to carry: about $5,000–6,000, within that budget.

Emergency reserve: $3,000–5,000 on a card, on top.

We’d rather you know these numbers now, while you’re still deciding, than discover them midway through preparation.

Questions About Costs?

If a number here surprises you, ask us before you commit. Direct access to your guides isn’t just something you get on the mountain. Back to Before You Go · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

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Private & Custom Expeditions

Mount Everest Expedition 2028 · Your Team, Your Dates, Your Film

On most of our expeditions, a private trip is a step up from the scheduled departure. On Everest, there is no step up to take. Every team we run is already small, already personal and already led in person by Willie and Damian Benegas.

This page explains what that means, and how we build further from it when you need something specific.

Already Private by Design

The 2028 expedition takes a maximum of four climbers. It is not a founder-led tier added onto a larger operation. Willie and Damian guide the whole expedition in person: on the rotation, at Base Camp and on the summit push. An IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide is on the team, and every climber has two Climbing Sherpas, led by Nepal-certified guides. Our Base Camp is our own, not a shared commercial site.

In practice, you aren’t choosing between a standard trip and a private one. The decisions that matter on Everest, including when to move, when to wait and when to turn around, are made by people who know you by name and see how you are climbing every day.

When We Build Further

Some climbers need more than the scheduled team. We build these with you directly.

A fully private departure for one climberSolo

The same expedition, with the team built entirely around you. This suits climbers who want the whole guide and Sherpa team focused on them, or who need the pace and decisions to rest on one person. Private and solo departures on other dates are available; ask us and we’ll build the dates around the founders’ schedule.

Your own teamUp to four climbers

If you have up to three partners you already climb with, the four places can be yours together. Talk to us early, while all four places are still open. Every climber on your team still goes through our application review.

Different datesOutside the 2028 departure

An Everest attempt outside our scheduled 2028 departure. Spring remains the main climbing season on the Nepal side, and we’ll tell you honestly what other timing does to your odds and your logistics. Willie and Damian lead private departures too, so the dates are built around their schedule.

Custom filming with Benegas Brothers ProductionsYour film

The 2028 expedition is filmed for the team. If you want a dedicated film of your own climb, for a sponsor, a cause or your family, our production team can build that into the expedition.

How a Custom Expedition Comes Together

It starts with a conversation with Willie or Damian, not a form. We talk through your climbing history, what you’re aiming for and what you need from the expedition.

Then we put a plan in writing: dates, team, logistics and cost. Every private expedition is quoted individually. Nothing is committed until you’ve read the plan and agreed to it.

Start early. Everest permits, helicopter time and experienced Climbing Sherpas for the spring season are committed months ahead, and good preparation takes longer than most people expect. Ideally, give yourself a year or more.

Not Ready for Everest Yet?

A custom program doesn’t have to be Everest. If you’re building toward it, we can design the steps with you.

Ecuador Mountaineering SchoolGlacier travel and technical skills, with instruction built in.AconcaguaReal altitude and multi-week expedition experience.Ojos del SaladoAnother high-altitude expedition objective in the Andes.Peru Alpinist: Alpamayo & QuitarajuSteep snow and ice at altitude.

Experience between 19,700 and 23,000 ft (6,000 and 7,000 m) is the foundation Everest is built on. See Is This for Me? for what we look for.

Want to Talk It Through?

Apply for Everest 2028

Tell us about your climbing, your team and your timing. Willie or Damian will tell you honestly what’s possible, and if something else should come first, they’ll say that too. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Dates & Prices

Mount Everest Expedition · South Col Route, Nepal · Spring 2028 · 35 Days · Maximum Four Climbers

Everything you need before you apply: the 2028 dates, the price, what it covers and how the application works. If you’re still deciding, start with Is This for Me? or talk to a guide first. Everest is booked by application, and every climber speaks with Willie or Damian before a place is confirmed.

Expedition price$155,000

USD per climber.

How to joinBy application

Places on the Everest expedition are offered by application. See How to Apply below.

Payment and cancellationIn writing

Everest has its own terms, confirmed in writing before any deposit is paid.

Maximum four climbers, with two Climbing Sherpas for every climber, led by Nepal-certified guides, and an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide on the team. Willie and Damian Benegas personally lead every departure.

What the Price Buys

Everest costs what it does because of people, aircraft and time. Everything below is included in the $155,000, and it is the reason this expedition is built the way it is.

Four climbers, maximum4

When four places are filled, the expedition is full. No large team sharing guides.

Willie and Damian in personEvery departure

Both lead the expedition, with an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide on the team.

Climbing Sherpas2 per climber

Two Climbing Sherpas for every climber, led by Nepal-certified guides, plus the Sherpa team that stocks the high camps.

Acclimatization on Mera Peak21,247 ft / 6,476 m

You acclimatize on a 6,000 m summit and at home, so you make fewer trips through the Khumbu Icefall.

Helicopter for every leg in NepalIncluded

Kathmandu to Kothe, Mera to Lukla, Lukla to Base Camp, and Base Camp to Kathmandu.

Supplemental oxygen8 bottles per climber

With high-flow regulators.

Preparation before you fly8 weeks + Utah camp

An 8-week Hypoxico protocol at home, a sports-physiologist training plan, mentoring from Willie and the 3-day Utah Training Camp.

Private Base CampYour own tent

A cot and mattress, a heated dining tent, chef-prepared meals, solar power and satellite Wi-Fi.

Expedition filmIncluded

A professionally produced film of your expedition by Benegas Brothers Productions.

The full list, and what isn’t included, is under What’s Included below.

2028 Departure

April 21 – May 25, 2028 Scheduled departure.

The expedition takes a maximum of four climbers, with two Climbing Sherpas for every climber, led by Nepal-certified guides, and an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide on the team. Willie and Damian Benegas personally lead every departure. When four places are filled, the 2028 expedition is full.

Day 1 is arrival in Kathmandu, and Day 35 is your flight home. The full 35-day plan, including Mera Peak, is on Day by Day.

Utah Training Camp

Second week of February 2028 Three days in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, near Salt Lake City.

The team meets in person to rehearse icefall techniques, fixed-rope systems and a night climb with your guides, before anyone sets foot in the Khumbu. It’s also the second of three gear checks before the summit.

When We Climb

The Everest climbing season on the Nepal side runs from April through late May. For most of the spring the jet stream sits over the summit. It usually lifts in May, opening the short summit windows when most ascents happen.

Our dates sit inside that season, and the itinerary carries rest and buffer days so the summit push follows the forecast, not the calendar. No date guarantees good weather.

What’s Included — and What Isn’t

Included in the price

Before you go
  • A personal training plan built with a professional sports physiologist
  • Personal mentoring from Willie as you prepare, including mentoring calls on your kit
  • An 8-week Hypoxico pre-acclimatization system at home, with a personalized protocol. Shipping is included within the US and EU.
  • A pre-expedition consultation with a high-altitude doctor
  • The 3-day Everest Training Camp in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains
In Nepal
  • Airport transfers in Kathmandu on arrival and departure
  • Four nights at the Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu (Days 1–2 and 33–34), double occupancy
  • Trekking lodges during the Mera Peak phase and the recovery lodge in Lukla
  • Every leg inside Nepal by helicopter: Kathmandu to Kothe, Mera to Lukla, Lukla to Base Camp, and Base Camp to Kathmandu
  • All meals on the expedition
  • The spring Everest permit in your name, issued by Nepal’s Department of Tourism
  • The Mera Peak permit, national park and local area fees, waste-management obligations and the liaison officer
  • Storage in Kathmandu for bags you don’t need in the mountains
On the mountain
  • Willie and Damian Benegas guiding in person, with an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide on the team
  • Two Climbing Sherpas for every climber, led by Nepal-certified guides
  • Eight bottles of supplemental oxygen per climber, with high-flow regulators
  • Our private Base Camp: your own sleeping tent with a cot and mattress, a heated dining tent, chef-prepared meals, solar power and satellite Wi-Fi
  • High-camp tents, stoves and cooking gear, set up and stocked by our Sherpa team
  • Avalanche beacons for the team
  • Medical support: the HRA Everest Clinic at Base Camp, 24-hour Everest Online Doctor access, unlimited advice from our team doctor, and helicopter evacuation coordination
  • Professional high-altitude weather forecasting
  • A professionally produced expedition film by Benegas Brothers Productions

Not included

  • International flights to and from Kathmandu
  • Travel to Salt Lake City for the Utah Training Camp, and your lodging and meals during the camp
  • Excess baggage on any flight
  • The Nepal tourist visa, paid on arrival
  • Rescue and evacuation insurance (required) and travel insurance (strongly recommended)
  • Your medical certificate from your own physician
  • A personal GPS tracker with a RECCO reflector, and its subscription
  • Personal climbing equipment and clothing, and any rentals in Kathmandu
  • The Sherpa summit bonus, and tips for Base Camp and support staff
  • Satellite Wi-Fi and satellite phone use, billed by use
  • Meals outside the expedition program, including any extra days you add
  • A single room in Kathmandu (available on request; we’ll quote the cost when you ask)
  • Extra hotel nights before or after the expedition
  • An optional mid-expedition rest helicopter flight
  • Hypoxico shipping outside the US and EU
  • Personal medications
  • Costs of leaving the expedition early, and costs from delays or circumstances beyond the expedition’s control

What each of these typically costs is on What to Budget For.

Your place is confirmed only when your application has been accepted and your deposit has been received.

Cancellation Policy

Everest-specific cancellation terms are provided with your application.

The payments on this expedition are significant, and the deposit is non-refundable. We strongly recommend trip cancellation and interruption cover, bought as soon as you pay your deposit.

Your Total Trip Cost

The expedition price is the biggest number, not the only one. Typical ranges per climber, in U.S. dollars:

Expedition price$155,000
Visa, Sherpa summit bonus, tips and personal spending$6,200–9,000
Typical total, before flights and gearabout $161,200–164,000

Not included in that total: international flights, personal gear, trip insurance, communications, a rest flight, extra nights or your reserve. The full breakdown is on What to Budget For.

Payment & Cancellation

This expedition has its own payment and cancellation terms. Permits, aviation, oxygen, and local operators are paid far in advance, so deposits are larger and may be fully nonrefundable. We send you the expedition’s terms in writing with your application, and you accept them before your place is confirmed.

Insurance: medical and rescue/evacuation coverage required. Trip cancellation insurance strongly recommended.

Questions? Email info@benegasbrothers.com.

Read the full Payment & Cancellation Policy →

Insurance

Rescue and evacuation coverage is required on this expedition. Your policy must cover helicopter rescue in Nepal, including from the high camps, with no altitude exclusion, and search, rescue and body recovery at or above the minimum Nepal sets for Everest climbers. Most travel policies stop at 13,100 to 19,700 ft (4,000 to 6,000 m) or exclude roped climbing, so you need a specialist mountaineering insurer. You can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. Send us your policy and we’ll read the altitude and activity clauses with you.

Coverage pays for a rescue; it can’t guarantee one. Evacuation from the mountain always depends on weather and conditions.

Travel insurance is strongly recommended, not required. In many situations it’s the only way to recover costs from disruptions outside anyone’s control. See Trip Insurance & Evacuation Coverage.

How to Apply

Everest with us begins with a conversation, not a checkout page. Because the team is four climbers, Willie and Damian review every application personally. Acceptance is not automatic.

Step 1

Apply

Tell us about your climbing background and your goals.

Step 2

Talk with Willie or Damian

A direct call about your experience, the expedition and whether it’s the right fit.

Step 3

Reserve your place

Your deposit and the paperwork. The medical certificate Nepal requires follows later, by January 20, 2028.

Step 4

Begin preparation

Your training plan, mentoring, the hypoxic protocol and the Utah Training Camp.

Private Departures

A fully private departure for one climber, your own team of up to four, different dates or a dedicated film of your climb can all be built with you. Willie and Damian lead Everest, private or scheduled. Every private expedition is priced individually. See Private & Custom Expeditions.

When to Apply

The main reason is preparation time. Everest preparation ideally runs eight to twelve months, and the climbers who arrive most ready had that time to train, break in their boots and test their kit as a system. If you apply with less time than that, we build the plan around the time you have.

The application review also takes a conversation, not a click, so allow time for it.

Ready to Apply?

Apply for Everest 2028

Everest is booked by application, and every climber speaks with Willie or Damian before a place is confirmed. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Your Questions

Mount Everest Expedition 2028 · Answered by the Guides

Straight answers to the questions climbers ask most before applying for Everest. Each answer is short and points you to the page with the full detail. If your question isn’t here, ask us. Willie and Damian answer Everest inquiries personally.

Still Have a Question?

Ask it

Small questions are easiest to solve months out, and Willie and Damian answer Everest inquiries personally. See dates and prices. · climbing@benegasbrothers.com

Ask a guide

Everest on the South Col route is not the most technical mountain you will ever climb, but it is the most sustained. Weeks at altitude, the Khumbu Icefall, a summit night in extreme cold, and 8 to 12 hours or more on oxygen above 25,900 ft / 7,900 m. If you have climbed well on Aconcagua, Denali or a Himalayan peak in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft (6,000 to 7,000 m) range, you have the foundation. See Is This for Me? for the full, honest picture.

A previous summit in the 19,700 to 23,000 ft (6,000 to 7,000 m) range, real multi-week expedition experience, and genuine comfort with crampons, an ice axe, fixed ropes, a jumar and rappelling. You shouldn’t be learning those skills for the first time at altitude. See Is This for Me?

Not under current law. Nepal’s parliament has been considering a rule that would require a prior summit of a 23,000 ft / 7,000 m peak in Nepal before an Everest permit. It is not law: as of July 2026 the bill was still in parliamentary committee, with 263 amendments under discussion. We confirm the current rules with every applicant, and if anything changes before the 2028 season we’ll tell you directly.

Ideally eight to twelve months. That builds the aerobic base, leg strength and mental endurance for long days, because summit day runs longer and at far less oxygen than anything you’ll do in training. Your plan is built with a professional sports physiologist, with mentoring from Willie as you go. If you apply with less time, we build the plan around the time you have.

No. Willie and Damian review every application personally, and the deciding factor is more often attitude than résumé: team players who stay open to coaching, value the preparation as much as the summit, and treat Sherpa climbers and staff as partners. See Is This for Me?

Nepal sets the minimum age for an Everest climbing permit at 16. Climbers under 18 climb with a parent or guardian, and each climber’s insurance must cover their age. Families are welcome to apply together.

Yes. Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a certificate from a physician confirming fitness for high-altitude climbing, including cardiac screening. Your own doctor provides it. Book a full physical three to four months before departure, so there’s time to follow up if anything turns up. Send us the certificate by January 20, 2028. This is a Nepal rule and differs from our other expeditions.

Your expedition includes a consultation with a high-altitude doctor before you leave. It covers altitude medication, your other medications, a personal altitude kit and anything specific to your history. See Your Expedition Checklist.

Tell us what you’ve climbed and how you train. If Everest is the right objective, we’ll say so. If something should come first, that’s a sequence, not a rejection. The Ecuador Mountaineering School, Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado and Peru Alpinist each add altitude, expedition experience or technical skill before Everest. We can build that path with you.

Many traditional Everest expeditions take 50 to 60 days. Ours takes 35, Kathmandu to Kathmandu. Three things make that possible: eight weeks of hypoxic pre-acclimatization at home, an ascent of Mera Peak (21,247 ft / 6,476 m) first, and helicopter legs that replace the trek. You arrive at Base Camp already adapted, so one rotation to Camp 3 replaces the usual two or three. That means less time at extreme altitude, fewer Icefall passages and more strength held for the summit. See Day by Day.

The spring season on the Nepal side runs from April through late May. The jet stream usually lifts in May, opening the short summit windows when most ascents happen. Our 2028 expedition runs April 21 to May 25, 2028, inside that season. See Dates & Prices.

Three days in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains in the second week of February 2028. The team rehearses icefall techniques, fixed-rope systems and a night climb together, so you arrive in Kathmandu having already trained with your teammates and guides. Travel to Salt Lake City, lodging and meals for the camp are not included.

Eight weeks before you leave, a Hypoxico altitude system arrives at your home. You sleep in it following a personalized protocol supervised by our team and a sports physiologist, and your body starts adapting before you reach Nepal. Follow the protocol exactly as written. It does acclimatization work you won’t have to do on the mountain.

Reaching 21,247 ft / 6,476 m early starts the adaptations extreme altitude demands. After the summit, two recovery days in Lukla let them settle before the Everest phase. By the time you fly to Base Camp, Everest is your second acclimatization test, not your first.

Four nights at the Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu, trekking lodges and one tent night at High Camp on Mera Peak, three nights at a recovery lodge in Lukla, then our private Base Camp at 17,600 ft / 5,364 m from Day 14. See Where You’ll Stay.

No. It’s our own camp, built and run for our team: your own sleeping tent with a cot and mattress, a heated dining tent, chef-prepared meals, solar power and satellite Wi-Fi.

The South Col, Camp 4, at 25,900 ft / 7,900 m. From Camp 3 upward you use supplemental oxygen, including while you sleep.

It’s included. Each climber has eight bottles of supplemental oxygen with high-flow regulators, typically flowing from Camp 3 through the summit and back, with backup supplies for contingencies. Your guides and Sherpa team manage flow rates throughout.

It’s the most dynamic section of the route: a shifting glacier of crevasses, ladders and ice towers between Base Camp and Camp 1. We reduce exposure by design: one acclimatization rotation instead of several, early-morning passages when the ice is coldest and most stable, and close coordination with the Icefall Doctors who maintain the route.

It can be crowded, especially in the short May summit windows. We manage it by being small and flexible: a pre-acclimatized team of four can move on short notice, avoid moving with large groups, and time Icefall passages carefully. You can’t make the crowds disappear, but you can be positioned to climb around them.

Weather delays are part of Everest, and the itinerary builds in rest and buffer days. We combine professional high-altitude forecasting with what we see on the mountain each day. Because we’re a small team, we can move on short notice when a window opens, or hold when it doesn’t. Willie’s 14 summits and Damian’s 6 rest on decades of reading Everest weather and choosing the moment.

We combine the forecast with conditions on the mountain and how each climber is moving. The decision is made openly with the team, not set by the calendar. Turnaround times are set before you leave the tent and are not negotiated on the ridge.

We don’t publish one. Results depend on the season, the weather windows and how each climber is moving, and a single number would hide all of that. Is This for Me? sets out the published, industry-wide figures honestly. Ask Willie or Damian about recent seasons.

No honest operator can guarantee the summit of Everest. Our strategy (pre-acclimatization, a small team, eight bottles of oxygen, two Climbing Sherpas per climber and flexible summit windows) is built to give you a strong chance. But the mountain decides. What we promise is that every decision will be made with your safety first, and that you will be part of those decisions. Turning around at the right moment is a professional decision, not a failure.

The Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) Everest Clinic at Base Camp, 24-hour access to Everest Online Doctor services, unlimited advice from our team doctor, satellite communications and helicopter evacuation coordination. Before you leave home, you see a high-altitude doctor. Report a headache, a cough or a cold hand early: small problems are easy to solve at Base Camp and hard to solve at the South Col.

At Base Camp, an experienced expedition chef cooks fresh meals every day, international and Nepali dishes built for high-altitude performance and recovery. At the high camps you switch to lightweight, high-calorie expedition food. Vegetarian and vegan diets are fully accommodated; tell us about any other needs when you join. See Life on the Mountain.

Yes, from Base Camp. There’s satellite Wi-Fi and solar charging, billed by how much you use. Above Base Camp, your guides carry radios and satellite communications for safety, not personal calls.

Yes. Willie and Damian Benegas personally lead every Everest departure: on the rotation, at Base Camp and on the summit push. That’s how this program is staffed, and it’s the one BBE expedition where the founders lead every departure. See Why Everest With Us.

Small teams make better decisions faster. With four climbers you know every teammate by name, you’re part of daily decision-making, your guides know exactly how you’re moving, and the team can adapt to a weather window in hours instead of days. You won’t disappear into the group.

Up to four climbers, Willie and Damian, an IFMGA- or AMGA-certified Western guide, and two Climbing Sherpas for every climber, led by Nepal-certified guides. A Base Camp chef, kitchen team and camp staff run the camp every day.

Yes. Many of our Everest climbers join as individuals and become a team. With four climbers at most, that happens fast.

Yes. Ask us, and we can put you in touch with past Everest climbers.

Yes. We can build a fully private departure for one climber, with the guide and Sherpa team built around you. Up to four climbers who already climb together can take all four places, and every climber still goes through the application review. Private and solo departures on other dates are available; ask us and we’ll build the dates around the founders’ schedule. Start as early as you can, ideally a year or more ahead. See Private & Custom Expeditions.

The 2028 expedition is professionally filmed by Benegas Brothers Productions for the team. If you want a dedicated film of your own climb, for a sponsor, a cause or your family, we can build that in. See Private & Custom Expeditions.

Guided Everest expeditions vary enormously, and the difference comes down to what’s included: team size, Sherpa ratio, oxygen, medical support and who leads the climb. Ours includes a four-climber team led by Willie and Damian, two Climbing Sherpas per climber, eight bottles of oxygen, the Mera Peak expedition, the 8-week Hypoxico system, a private Base Camp, the Utah Training Camp, a sports-physiologist training plan, mentoring from Willie and an expedition film. The price and full inclusions are on Dates & Prices.

International flights, travel, lodging and meals for the Utah Training Camp, excess baggage, the Nepal visa, required rescue coverage, recommended travel insurance, personal gear, the Sherpa summit bonus and staff tips, and Kathmandu meals outside the program. What to Budget For lays it all out.

Four steps: apply, talk with Willie or Damian, reserve your place with your deposit and paperwork, then begin preparation. See Dates & Prices.

Everest-specific cancellation terms are provided with your application. The deposit is non-refundable, and we strongly recommend trip cancellation and interruption cover from the day you pay it.

Rescue and evacuation coverage is required on this expedition: helicopter rescue in Nepal, including from the high camps, with no altitude exclusion, at or above the minimum Nepal sets. Most travel policies stop well below 26,200 ft / 8,000 m, so you’ll need a specialist insurer. We recommend Global Rescue, with its High-Altitude Evacuation Package, or Ripcord. You can buy it any time, but it must be in place before departure. Travel insurance is strongly recommended, not required. See Trip Insurance & Evacuation Coverage.

Plan to carry about $5,000 to 6,000 USD in clean, recent-series notes. Most of it is the Sherpa summit bonus and tips for the Base Camp and support staff, which are paid in cash.

Keep a separate reserve of $3,000 to 5,000 USD available on a card for the unplanned: extra hotel nights, an early flight home or replacing failed gear. See What to Budget For.

It isn’t included. You pay it in cash, on top of the wages we pay: $2,000 for each of your two Climbing Sherpas, about 4,000 USD in total. It goes directly to the Sherpas who climbed with you, and we give you clear guidance on when and how to hand it over.

In Kathmandu, yes, with low limits and fees. Beyond the city, plan on cash only. Bring your dollars from home: banks and money changers in Nepal often refuse torn, marked or older notes.

Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), Kathmandu. Arrive on Day 1, April 21, 2028, or a day early for a margin against a missed connection; we can book the extra night at the team hotel. Our team meets you at the airport, and transfers are included. Fly home no earlier than May 25, 2028, on a ticket you can change. See Flights & Getting to Kathmandu.

Once your place is confirmed and you’ve paid in full. Send us your proposed itinerary before you buy, and choose a fare you can change. Book your February trip to Salt Lake City for the Training Camp earlier; travel, lodging and meals for the camp are not included.

No. We don’t use the scheduled Lukla flights. Every leg inside Nepal is by helicopter and included, including the flight from Lukla straight to Base Camp on Day 14.

Yes. Most nationalities, including US, Canadian, UK, EU and Australian citizens, get a Nepal tourist visa on arrival in Kathmandu. You need the 90-day visa, $125 as of 2026, paid in cash. Your passport must be valid for six months beyond your travel dates, with two blank pages. Fill in Nepal’s online arrival form in the 15 days before you fly. We confirm current fees with you before departure.

We do. The spring Everest permit, the Mera Peak permit and the park and local fees are included in your expedition. You provide passport details and photos when we ask for them.

Yes. Nepal requires every Everest climber to carry a personal GPS tracker and a RECCO reflector. Most climbers use a satellite communicator on an active subscription, and many down suits and boots already have a RECCO reflector built in. We provide avalanche beacons for the team.

In Kathmandu, single rooms are available on request; we’ll quote the cost when you ask. On Mera, lodge rooms are usually twin share. At Base Camp every climber has their own sleeping tent.

Yes. Anything you don’t need in the mountains stays in storage in Kathmandu until you return.

Some items, yes, in Kathmandu. We strongly recommend climbing in your own boots, down suit and hardware, tested and fitted long before the climb. Ask us which pieces make sense to rent. See the Everest Gear List.

8,000 m double boots with integrated gaiters, sized for thick socks and matched to your crampons. Boots used on Aconcagua or Denali are usually not warm enough for summit night on Everest. Send us your model before you buy anything else, and start breaking them in early.

Four climbers. Two founders. One mountain.

Willie and Damian Benegas lead every departure in person, with two Climbing Sherpas for every climber and a private Base Camp. Everest is booked by application, and every climber speaks with Willie or Damian before a place is confirmed.

Price$155,000 per climber
Private & Custom Your dates. Your team.

This trip can run privately, on the dates that work for you.

Scheduled departures
  • Friday, Apr 21 - Thursday, May 25, 2028Scheduled departure

Questions first? Ask a guide

Location:
Nepal
Group:
Maximum 4 climbers
Duration:
35 days
Skill:
Advanced
Activities:
Expeditions, 7 Summits
Pricing

All prices are in US dollars.

Four climbers. Two founders. One mountain.

Willie and Damian Benegas lead every departure in person, with two Climbing Sherpas for every climber and a private Base Camp. Everest is booked by application, and every climber speaks with Willie or Damian before a place is confirmed.

Book now

Private & Custom

Make Mount Everest your own expedition

Every trip we run can also run privately: on your dates, with your people, built around your goal. Same guides, same safety standard as our scheduled departures.

Your dates

We set the departure around your calendar, not the other way round.

Your people

Family, friends, a company team, or just you and a guide.

Your goal

Training for a bigger peak, a winter or speed attempt, a film, or a route that runs from summit to ocean.

Your price

Private trips are quoted for your group size, dates and plan.

Plan a Private Trip
See what private can look like

Everest Expedition 2028

Everest Expedition 2028

Maximum 4 climbers · 2:1 Climbing Sherpa ratio · Led in person by Willie and Damian
Price per Climber $155,000

The complete 35-day South Col expedition, April 21 – May 25, 2028: Mera Peak pre-acclimatization, every helicopter leg inside Nepal, our private Base Camp, eight bottles of oxygen per climber, the 8-week Hypoxico protocol, the 3-day Utah Training Camp and the expedition film. Every application is personally reviewed.

Book now

Private & Custom

One climber · Your own team · Your dates · Your film

A fully private departure for a single climber, your own team of up to four, different dates, or a dedicated film of your climb with Benegas Brothers Productions. It starts with a conversation with Willie or Damian, and nothing is committed until you have the plan in writing.

Book now

The BBE Advantage

Mount Everest — Nepal

Four Climbers. Two Sherpas Each.

Four climbers, maximum. Each climber is supported by two dedicated Climbing Sherpas, built into every departure, not an add-on, with eight bottles of supplemental oxygen and high-flow regulators.

Mount Everest — Nepal

Acclimatized Before Base Camp

Eight weeks of hypoxic pre-acclimatization at home and a real ascent of Mera Peak, 21,247 ft / 6,476 m, mean one clean rotation on Everest instead of the two or three a traditional schedule requires, and fewer passages through the Khumbu Icefall.

Two climbers celebrating on a Himalayan summit

Led in Person by Willie and Damian

Willie and Damian guide in person: on the acclimatization rotation, at Base Camp and on the summit push. It is how this specific program is staffed, every departure.

Professional Mountain Standards

Our guide team includes internationally and nationally certified mountain professionals.

AMGA — American Mountain Guides Association logo
IFMGA / UIAGM — International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations logo
AAGM — Asociación Argentina de Guías de Montaña logo

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