Team 3 Wraps Up at Everest Base Camp as Team 4 Pushes Higher

Today started one of our favorite ways, a scenic helicopter flight from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu. Our Rugged Luxury private team wrapped up two nights at Everest Base Camp, and this morning they lifted off the glacier by helicopter, tracing back over the valleys, peaks, and villages they had spent the past two weeks trekking through on foot. The RLE flag flew as the team bid farewell to the Khumbu.

It's been a full luxury experience for our Rugged Luxury trekkers this year. Here are a few highlights that this team capitalized on: They slept where Everest summiteers sleep. They woke to the Khumbu Icefall through the dome window, stepped onto the glacier in crampons, and toasted their arrival with champagne at 17,600 ft. The world's highest barista-made cappuccino. A ping pong table. Fur throws on proper beds. A 60-minute massage and a five-star hotel waiting on the other side of the helicopter ride. The Rugged Luxury EBC Trek and Stay is designed to be the most comfortable and authentic version of this journey that exists. Team 3 can confirm it is. Safe travels to the whole team.

Further down the valley, Team 4 reached Pheriche (14,340 ft / 4,371 m) today with Senior Mountain Guide Tomi Ceppi. Above the treeline now, Pheriche sits in a wide open valley deep in the high Himalayas, with Ama Dablam, Taboche, and Cholatse filling the skyline. The team is moving well, and the mountains are welcoming them in.

Photos courtesy of Tomi Ceppi