17th Jan, 2023

Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return

Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return, even better known as Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek and fly back by Helicopter, is the ultimate luxury trek to the base camp of Everest, the world's highest altitude seated base camp. With the amalgamation of the high-altitude trek and return helicopter flight, you'll get the ultimate opportunity to experience the Everest region by foot and as a bird.

You'll hike to the base camp and Gorak Shep for the first eight days with luxury accommodations and other services. And on the 9th day, as you return to Gorak Shep from Kala Patthar early morning hike, you'll take breakfast and wait for the helicopter pickup.

In this way, you'll escape the three days of strenuous return hike to Lukla in luxurious style and the panorama, now from the sky, soaring like a bird in a helicopter. It is the appealing feature of the Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return from Kala Patthar to Lukla or Kathmandu.

Here are some standout features of the Everest Base Helicopter Trek, which makes it a recent hotcake among backpackers in the Everest region.

Luxury Meals and Accommodation

Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return from Gorak Shep is a luxurious style of Everest trek. Unlike regular tea house stay and meals, you'll get the best available tea house, elegant dinners, luxury accommodation, and other amenities for nine days. These are included at the most affordable rate with Adventure Nepal Eco Treks.

Healthy and nutritious meals with desserts, fruits, salads, good hot drinks, internet, hot water shower, hot drinking water, electricity for battery recharge, and the best available twin-sharing rooms make your EBC Trek trip memorable. And all these are included in your luxurious package.

And not to mention the luxurious return from Gorak Shep on the helicopter with a bird's eye view of Everest and other mountains.

Mountains of Everest Region (Mahalangur Range)

Everest region, in Mahalangur Mountain Range, in Sagarmatha National Park, spans over 1148 Km. Sq. is a wonder of mountains. World's first, fourth, fifth, and sixth highest mountains, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu, make this region home. These are the roofs of the world. And your luxury Everest Base Camp Trek and Helicopter Return take you to this heaven. You'll be in a surreal landscape encircled by mighty mountains and towering peaks.

While trekking to the base camp, you'll see Kongde Ri, Khumbila, Ama Dablam, Island Peak, Cholatse, Khumbutse, Tawoche, Makalu, Thamserku, Pumori, Lobuche East, and Everest panorama that includes Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse. And while flying back from Gorak Shep, you’ll witness the bird’s eye view of these mountains again.

Besides these prominent peaks, you'll witness smaller mountains, glaciers, glacier moraines, lakes, and freshwater systems.

Opportunity to explore Everest Base Camp by foot and helicopter flight

Almost every traveler dreams of scaling EBC Trek on foot. And also, a considerable number of travelers only have a little time to hike EBC Base Camp Trek for two weeks. Some take a direct one-day Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour with land at Kala Patthar. And some first hike to the base camp of Everest and, while returning, fly by Helicopter to Lukla or directly to Kathmandu.

You'll begin this trek by flying from Kathmandu/Ramechhap to Lukla on an airplane with the option of taking Kathmandu to Lukla Helicopter Flight. And from Lukla, you'll hike to Phakding, Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Lobuche, and Gorak Shep, with an optional hike to the Kala Patthar vantage point. During this hike, you'll also have two acclimatization stops at Namche and Dingboche.

With eight days of trekking on the classic EBC Trek Route, you'll conquer Everest's base camp. And during the hike, you'll hike through different climatic zones, meet other people, stay at different tea houses, and experience the essence of Everest trekking.

And while returning from Gorak Shep, you'll get a helicopter pickup and drop at Lukla from Gorak Shep. Instead of trekking on the same trail for 8 hours daily, you'll reach Lukla within 25-30 minutes.

And if you want to fly straight to Kathmandu instead of Lukla, you'll get a direct helicopter flight to Lukla. However, you must inform our tour manager when you purchase Best Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return in 2023.

Ultimate value trek for time-bound travelers

Instead of 12-14 days, you'll complete the luxury Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek in nine days and be in Kathmandu on the 9th. This style of trek and helicopter return from Gorak Shep saves you four to five days, excluding possible weather changes and flight delays at Lukla.

You'll stand at Everest's base camp, at 5,364 meters/17,598 ft, and Kala Patthar, at 5,645 meters/18,519 meters. It is what every trekker on standard Everest Base Camp does. The aerial sightseeing of the world's tallest mountain alongside the world's fourth and fifth most elevated mountain, both from the ground and by Helicopter, is an ultimate value trip to Everest. And to do it in just nine days is what a time-bound trekker craves—an exquisite blend of the most adventurous EBC Trek and helicopter flight.

In this way, if you're a time-bound traveler, who wants to save four to five days of the trek, Adventure Nepal Eco Treks's best value nine days Everest Base Camp Trek Helicopter Return from Gorak Shep to Lukla or Kathmandu fits you 100%.

Biodiversity in Everest Region

Biodiversity throughout the Everest trek route is what every trekker finds serene. Most of the vegetation on this trek is subalpine and alpine, including pine, birch, oak, hemlock, juniper, and rhododendron trees. Hence, the fresh greens and vivid rhododendron bloom in Spring or the clear outlook in Autumn in the luxury Everest Base Camp Trek and Helicopter return from Gorak Shep makes it an actual luxury trek with serene views.

Besides the vegetation, many wild animals make it an ideal home. Snow leopards, red pandas, and musk deer are the endangered animals in this region as major mammal species. While trekking, you'll see mountain goats, Yaks, Himalayan rats, Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, and a few other species of birds and animals.

Sherpa culture

Tamang, Rai, Bishowkarma, and Sherpa are the major ethnic groups in the Sagarmatha National Park area. But, Sherpa is the largest among all of them and are pretty familiar ethnic people among foreign trekkers as well.

If you're on one day Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour, you'll fly above the Sherpa settlements and miss the Sherpa cultural experience. But with a luxury Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek, you'll stop at Sherpa settlements and tea houses owned by Sherpa people while trekking to the base camp.

Lukla, Namche, Tengboche, and Dingboche are major Sherpa settlements en route to the EBC trek. But, Sherpa people owned tea houses till Gorak Shep.

The internal design of tea houses here reflects how rich Sherpa culture is. The attire, language, religion, prayer wheels, flags, and other elements reflect the preserved Sherpa culture.

If you plan Everest Base Camp Trek and Helicopter Return in November, you'll witness some Sherpa traditions and rituals. Women gather in groups, sing their traditional songs, and ask for charity for social causes. November is also the best time to visit Tengboche monastery, the largest Buddhist Monastery in Khumbu valley, and witness the Mani Rimdu Festival. It's the most important festival among Buddhists in the Khumbu region.

While trekking, you'll get the wholesome Sherpa cultural experience and fly over a helicopter above these beautiful settlements while returning from the base camp.

Highlights Everest Base Camp Trek and Helicopter Return

-Eight days of adventurous yet Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return from Gorak Shep on the 9th day morning.
-Surreal prospects of the world's highest, Mt. Everest, fourth highest, Lhotse, and fifth highest, Makalu, and many prominent mountains of Everest region.
-Experience the serene hike through the enriched biodiversity of Sagarmatha National Park.
-Sherpa villages with enriched culture, traditions, festivals, and lifestyles with warm, welcoming gestures.
-Comfortable hike through the semi-alpine and cold, dry subtropical highland climate.
-Two days of proper acclimatization stop at Namche and Dingboche for better adaptation.
-Responsible ultimate luxury Everest Base Camp Trek experience with the motto of promoting eco treks in Nepal with us.
-Handpicked itinerary, well-organized logistics, highly skilled and experienced trek guides, guaranteed departure, and 100% safe Everest Base Camp Trek Helicopter Return with Adventure Nepal Eco Treks.

Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return- Additional Info

Accommodation

You'll get the best available tea house for nine days on your luxury Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek with Adventure Nepal Eco Treks. You'll get a twin sharing room with attached bathrooms till Dingboche.

You'll be accommodated in regularly cleaned rooms where you can expect thoroughly washed bed sheets and pillowcases. You'll get clean blankets and cozy spaces for overnight accommodations. Please carry a sleeping bag for additional comfort while sleeping. Upon request, Adventure Nepal Eco Treks also provides sleeping bags for the clients joining fixed departure Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return in 2023.

Other services like Airlink and Everest link wifi, hot water shower, hot drinking water, and electricity to recharge power banks and mobile phones cost USD 5 at most. Since this is a luxury trek with helicopter return, we provide these services for free so that you can also benefit from these all-inclusive services at every tea house.

Meals

Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek Helicopter Return from Gorak Shep to Lukla or Kathmandu offers you the best meals at every tea house. As a trekker on this trek, you'll enjoy luxury meals till Gorak Shep.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner include Nepali and western cuisines. 

You can have toast, bread, omelet, honey & butter, porridge, oatmeals, muesli, chapati, beans, tea, coffee, hot milk, lemon ginger tea, and more items for breakfast.

For lunch and dinner, you can order dumplings, fried rice, noodles with tuna or omelet, pizza, burgers, sandwiches & fries, Dal Bhat with cooked vegetables, spaghetti, Tenduk, Thukpa, Steaks, and much more.

Our Meals on Everest Base Camp Trek Blog gives detailed information on meals you'd get till Gorak Shep from Lukla.

Trek difficulty

Everest Base Camp Trek and fly back by Helicopter from Gorak Shep is a moderate-grade trek. Some trekkers even find it easy to trek to. But, the only issue you'd have throughout this trek is high altitude.

Everest Base Camp Trekking is one of the most accessible treks, except for parts like Tengboche ascend, Thugla Pass, and from Lobuche to Gorak Shep on Khumbu Glacier moraines.

With our experienced guides and two acclimatization stops, you'll complete the hike to Gorak Shep with no issues. On top, you'll fly on a helicopter to Lukla or Kathmandu while returning. It gives you the most lavish return one could ask on Everest Trek.

Luxury Everest Base Camp Trek Physical fitness and Preparation

Everest Base Camp Trek is doable by experienced and novice trekkers. However, if this is your first trek on high-altitude terrain, you must at least prepare for this for a few months before the EBC Base Camp Trek starts.

Physical fitness is crucial to hike significantly for multiple hours and keeping pace with groups. Your fitness level determines the success of your Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek.

Cardio, mini-marathons, short and long hikes, and high altitude simulator checks are a few of the best training for this trek. Running on the treadmill, swimming, and doing gym workouts also helps you gain physical fitness.

The best physical shape, adequate preparations, and mentality make it easier for you to scale Everest Base Camp.

Everest Trek Permits

For a luxury trek to Everest Base Camp and Helicopter Return, you must have two Everest Trek Permits. One is Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality Permit, and the second is Sagarmatha Conservation Area Permit.

These essential Everest Trek permits cost USD 50 together and are included in the Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return Package. Your trek guide verifies these two permits at two different trekker checkposts at Monjo and Lukla.

Trekker’s safety and security

Adventure Nepal Eco Treks commits 100% to our valued client's health, safety, and security throughout our every trekking in Nepal.

High-altitude trekking is often associated with various risk factors. Altitude sickness, minor injuries, fractures, food poisoning, and multiple factors may come up in some situations. Hence, to deal with such, we employ expert trekking guides with some high-altitude medicine and first aid knowledge.

You'll have a safe trek experience on the entire Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek. Your trekking gear and personal stuff will be 100% intact and secure with assistance from our trek porters.

Also, you'll get immediate helicopter evacuation at lower altitudes or even to Kathmandu during medical emergencies and other situations.

Travel Insurance on Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek

Adventure Nepal Eco Treks requests every client joining fixed departure Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return to purchase decent international travel insurance that covers your helicopter evacuation costs.

With travel insurance, you can worry less about the risks associated with hiking in the Everest region. And even if you fall sick during this trek, your insurance covers all the medical and hospital bills. And during the worst-case scenario, by any means, if you need a helicopter evacuation, with proof of travel insurance, a helicopter comes to pick you up right on time.

We only insure our trek guides and porters and not our clients. But upon request, we can also recommend some trusted travel insurance partners in Nepal. But we urge you to purchase one back home before flying to Nepal.

Trek guide’s and porter’s safety

We value our trek guides and porters, and hence, we commit 100% to their safety and security throughout our treks. We also provide industry standard salary, complements, health insurance, and other benefits.Our trek guides and porters do get helicopter rescue during emergencies.

Baggage and weight limits for airlines and porters

Since you'll take Kathmandu to Lukla or Ramechhap to Lukla to start the luxury Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek, you can only carry a backpack of up to 15 kg.

The airlines allow passengers to carry 5 kg in a handbag and 10 kilograms in a backpack or 15 kg in a single bag. However, if your baggage weight crosses the limit, you need to pay the fare for extra weight. The trek cost doesn't include your baggage cost for being overweight.

Once you purchase Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return from Adventure Nepal Eco Treks, you'll get one trek porter for free. A porter carries your backpack and trek gear so you can hike with only essential items in a tiny bag.

You can share a trekking porter with another trekker, and the combined weight you can assign to a porter is 25-30 kg. If your backpack weight exceeds the limit, you need to hire the trekking porter and pay USD 15-20 daily, including the tip at the end.

Hence, we recommend you pack only the essential gear for nine days of Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek.

Gears to pack

For nine days of Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek, you'll need decent trekking gear and gadgets. But you can still keep the backpack minimal by carrying only essentials.

One down jacket, a few fleece layers, a few Windstopper, gloves, woolen hats, neck buffs, face masks, and a thermostat can be good upper body wear.

You can carry two to three quick-drying hiking pants, trousers, underwear, socks, boots, and knee-support sleeves for the lower body. A sleeping bag is a must for warm and cozy sleep, as tea houses only provide one blanket for one trekker.

You can carry gadgets like power banks, mobile phones, cameras, additional batteries, chargers, headlamps, swiss knives, a kindle, and some notebooks and pens.

Sunglass, face creams and lotions, sunscreen, lip balms, moisturizers, and body spray are enough to keep your skin sound. Also, toiletries and wet wipers can be handy during loose motions and even at tea houses at higher altitudes.

With these gears, you can complete Everest Base Camp Luxury Trek comfortably.

Flight delays and transportation

For Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return, you'll take flights from Kathmandu to Lukla and Lukla to Kathmandu. And on the 9th day, from Gorak Shep, you'll fly on a helicopter to Lukla or Kathmandu.

Since Lukla's weather can change with no notice, there's no certainty for flights on time. But, in Autumn and Spring, you can expect stable temperatures at Lukla airport. Except for a few days, you can expect on-time flights to Lukla and Kathmandu.

The helicopter flight from Gorak Shep takes off even with a slight change in weather. However, the temperature remains stable throughout the day in Spring and Autumn, which is also ideal for helicopter takeoff.

Upon arrival and departure, you'll get a complimentary airport-to-hotel and hotel-to-airport pickup and drop service from us.

Respect to Sherpa culture and biodiversity

Everest region is rich in Sherpa culture as well as biodiversity. And as a trekker, you must respect and value these treasures of the Everest region.

The Buddhist Mani Wheels, prayer flags, Sherpa lifestyles, traditions, and their attires keep you engaged. And while trekking, you'll hike through the lush subalpine vegetation, including hemlock, birch, juniper, pine, and rhododendron.

Also, you'll hike on the shore of Dudh Koshi or follow the trekking route along the river to Namche. All these elements make your Everest Base Camp Helicopter Trek serene and blessed.

Please pass a smile to the locals or even greet "Namaste" to them if you can. And in return, you'll also get a warmly welcoming gesture from these people.Don't tease wild animals and yaks while hiking. You may take photographs, but don't attempt to harm them.

Eco Trekking with Adventure Nepal Eco Treks

Our name indicates that we commit 100% to sustainable and eco-trekking in Nepal. Every trekking in Nepal has to be eco-friendly and do no harm to the environment and the local community. Our Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return impacts the environment and wild animals very little.

Instead of doing a two-way helicopter flight, we first hike up to the base camp and take the helicopter only during the return. In this way, there'll be less carbon emission from nature. While trekking for nine days, we'll also contribute some to local trek guides, porters, and tea houses that directly or indirectly give back to the community.

Weather, Temperature and Best time

Everest Base Camp Trek and flying back by Helicopter is ideal during Autumn and spring. This trek is also doable in winter if you can bear the cold at high altitudes.

Not only for trekking but for the magical helicopter flyout experience from Gorak Shep, it also elevates during the crisp weather with ideal weather conditions.

The best time for Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return is the clear outlook, crystal clear viewing experience, rain-free days, vibrant landscapes, serene vegetation, and stable temperature and weather from March to May and September to November.

The temperature at the base camp during these months averages approximately 15 degrees during the daytime. And the temperature drops below freezing at nighttime at the base camp. Early Spring and late Autumn are pretty chilly, but the rest of the months remain warmer.However, lower regions remain warmer during these months. 

Also, the wind speed during these months remains calmer and won't be that freezing during the hike.

Tip to Trek Guides and Porters

We encourage you to tip some money to our trek guides and porters at the end of the luxury Everest Base Camp Trek and fly back by helicopter. Once you reach Lukla with the trek crew, or if you pass on an aircraft before them, you must tip them some amount.

There's no standard amount you must tip to trek guides and porters, but almost every trekker practices the 10% tipping to trek crews. Please give a tip to our trek guides and porters at least 10% of the total Everest Base Camp Trek with Helicopter Return cost.

Trek guides and porters do their best to make your trip successful and bring you back safely to Lukla and Kathmandu. And they expect some tips from you as well. Your bonus motivates them further to keep up the excellent work in the Himalayas and guide the adventurous trekkers in the coming days.