Gorakshep to Lukla helicopter flight

This is the flight that ends the Everest Base Camp trek for a large proportion of the people who walk it. You have reached base camp, you have climbed Kala Patthar for the sunrise, and the map now shows three days of descending on legs that have already done a fortnight. Twenty-five minutes in a helicopter removes all of it.

The route drops down the Khumbu valley past Lobuche, Dughla and Pheriche, follows the Imja Khola past Pangboche and Tengboche, and joins the Dudh Kosi for the last run into Lukla. You lose 2,300 metres in under half an hour. The pressure change is noticeable and, for anyone who has been feeling the altitude, extremely welcome.

Why it is not simply a shortcut

Descending on foot from 5,164 metres is harder on the body than most people expect. It is relentlessly downhill, the trail is rough, and the cumulative load on knees and ankles after two weeks is what produces the injuries we see. A significant number of trekkers who fly out of Gorakshep are not doing it for convenience. They are doing it because something already hurts.

Booking it on the mountain

Almost nobody books this leg from home. It gets decided at Lobuche or over dinner at Gorakshep, on a patchy data connection, which is why our price is published on this page rather than quoted on request. You should be able to see the number, decide, and send one message.

Altitude and the aircraft

Read the pilot advisory on this page carefully. Gorakshep is the highest scheduled pad we operate to, and what the aircraft can lift changes with the temperature each morning. We would rather set that expectation now than on the pad.

The airstrip is 527 metres long, slopes uphill at around twelve degrees, and ends in a rock face. Helicopters use the pad adjacent to the apron rather than the runway itself. Stay behind the marked line until the rotor has stopped and approach only from the front, where the crew can see you.

This is a high-altitude departure and the aircraft is working close to its limits. The crew’s weight decisions on the morning are final, and they will sometimes differ from what was agreed the night before, because temperature and wind change what the machine can lift.

Baggage on this leg is limited to ten kilos per person rather than fifteen. Porters can carry the rest down, or it can follow on a later flight.

You will wait outside in temperatures well below freezing. Keep your down jacket, gloves and hat out of the bag that is about to be loaded. Once the aircraft is on the pad, loading is quick and there is no time to unpack.